What to Know
- Dawn McEveety,19, was found dead Nov. 24, 2015 near Whittier.
- A man was facing a potential life sentence in August.
- Anthony Robert Moreno, 40, was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder.
A gang member is facing a potential life prison sentence when sentenced Aug. 1 for shooting a 19-year-old Orange County woman whose decomposing body was found in an ice chest stashed in a stolen car in an unincorporated area near Whittier.
A jury in downtown Los Angeles found Anthony Robert Moreno, 40, guilty Thursday of first-degree murder for the Nov. 24, 2015, slaying of Dawn McEveety of Huntington Beach, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office reported.
The panel also found true allegations that Moreno personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury and death and that the crime was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of and in association with a criminal street gang, along with a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Moreno armed himself with a gun and shot the young woman in the detached garage of an Artesia home that was a known gang hangout, according to Deputy District Attorney John Chang.
McEveety's remains were discovered by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies five days later inside a 1991 Toyota Celica Hatchback in the 8600 block of Bradwell Avenue when they responded to an abandoned vehicle report. The deputies immediately smelled the strong odor of decomposition, opened the vehicle and found the body entombed in an ice chest in the rear cargo area.
Moreno was arrested on an unrelated charge some time after the shooting and was sent to prison in that case. He was subsequently returned to stand trial in connection with the killing.
