A Kern County jury found a man guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday for following a man through Taft in a vehicle, pulling up to him in an alley and shooting him, according to a Kern County District Attorney’s Office news release issued Thursday.
Bobby Gene Sherrell Jr. and David Steelman, 31, had a “dispute” a few weeks prior to Steelman’s 2018 shooting death, the news release said. Steelman, unarmed, was walking near Crystal Street and saw Sherrell.
Sherrell pursued Steelman in an alley, and shot him in the chest, the news release added. Kern County Sheriff’s deputies in Taft went to Crystal Street and Naylor Avenue and found Steelman.
A sentencing hearing was set for Jan. 6 where Sherrell faces 40 years to life in prison, according to the news release.