Man sentenced for deadly shooting outside Fresno gas station

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A teenager arrested by Fresno police for a 2021 murder will instead serve a four-year term in juvenile detention for manslaughter.

Eleuterio Flores was 17 at the time of the shooting that killed 18-year-old Julian Cerda.

It happened outside a gas station at Maple and Shields in central Fresno in March 2021.

Police arrested Flores a few months later, after he turned 18, and charged him with illegal possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors tried to have the murder case transferred to adult courts, but a juvenile judge court kept the case and found Flores responsible for manslaughter.

He got a four-year sentence in juvenile detention plus supervision until he turns 25.

He was also convicted on the firearms charge and Wednesday, a judge sentenced him to a year of probation, but he'll serve that while in detention.

His attorney says Flores acted in imperfect self-defense when he killed Cerda.

"It is very rare for a juvenile judge to deny transfer on cases with charges like Eleuterio's," said defense attorney Anjali Bansal. "But ultimately, the judge presiding over his transfer reviewed all the evidence that was presented, and believed he was suitable for juvenile court and that he could be rehabilitated with their services. The resolution that was ultimately reached was the appropriate outcome given the events that transpired that day."