Jury convicts man in 2013 deadly shooting in Ceres

A jury has convicted Noel Mansilla of shooting to death Adolfo Sandoval, who was involved in a relationship with the defendant’s estranged wife.

Testimony in the weeklong trial indicated that the marriage essentially had ended between Mansilla and his wife when the defendant was sent to prison on a child abuse conviction. The married couple were still separated when Mansilla drove to a Ceres home in June 2013 and provoked a confrontation with Sandoval.

The jurors deliberated for several hours before they returned with a guilty verdict Thursday afternoon, according to Deputy District Attorney Wendell Emerson, who prosecuted the case. Mansilla was convicted of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a gun, along with an enhancement of using a gun in the killing.

Mansilla, 37, is scheduled to return to court Dec. 11 for his sentencing hearing. Before he is sentenced, Sandoval’s family will have an opportunity at the hearing to speak in court about the impact of his slaying.

The previous child abuse conviction and the gun enhancement will lengthen Mansilla’s prison time for the deadly shooting. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of more than 75 years to life in prison, Emerson said.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 p.m. June 21, 2013, at a home in the 1400 block of Hackett Road in Ceres, between Blaker and Morgan roads west of Highway 99.

Mansilla was on parole, had been out of prison for about eight months and was living as a transient. The prosecutor argued at trial that Mansilla was angry about not being able to see his children. He called his wife, asking for Sandoval to go outside and meet him around the corner.

Sandoval did not go out to meet Mansilla. The defendant’s wife called probation officials to tell them Mansilla was in danger of violating a restraining order. She was advised to call 911 if anything happened.

Testimony in the trial indicated that Mansilla drove a vehicle onto the front lawn and up to the door of the Ceres home. The confrontation with Sandoval ensued. One of Mansilla’s children asked Mansilla to put down the gun, but he shot Sandoval.

Mansilla’s wife had called 911, and a recording of the call was played for the jury in the trial. Jurors could hear part of the deadly confrontation unfold in the recording.

Authorities arrived at the home and found Sandoval in the front yard with gunshot wounds. The prosecutor said Sandoval was shot twice; the fatal wound was in his back. A police officer asked Sandoval who had shot him. In his dying declaration, Sandoval told the officer that Mansilla had shot him, according to Emerson.

Sandoval, 43, of Ceres was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. About 12 hours after the shooting, detectives took Mansilla into custody after they found him at a motel on Kansas Avenue in Modesto.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Jury convicts man in 2013 deadly shooting in Ceres."