OROVILLE — The man convicted of killing 27-year-old Salvador Fuentes on Christmas 2017 was given a sentence of 15 years to life in prison on Thursday at the Butte County Superior Court in Oroville.
According to a press release issued Thursday by the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Johnny Ray Cabrera had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in September nearly six years after killing a man who prosecutors said was a rival gang member in Oroville.
Fuentes was discovered on Dec. 25, 2017 with three gunshot wounds which proved fatal. He was a resident at a local trailer park where his body was found.
District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Cabrera was an early suspect since he lived near Fuentes and was alleged to be in a rival gang.
“However, no eyewitnesses to the shooting were found and Cabrera provided sheriff’s investigators with a time-stamped digital photo that allegedly placed him in Chico at the time of the murder,” Ramsey said. “His then-live-in girlfriend and her mother supported that alibi.”
In 2021, both of the women who provided the alibi told law enforcement that it was false and that Cabrera was home. They went on to state that Cabrera told them he shot Fuentes because he was reaching for a weapon, though no weapon was found on Fuentes when law enforcement officers investigated the scene.
The release said that during the sentencing, five statements from different family members were read by Fuentes’ sister. Additionally, two members of Cabrera’s family had to be removed from the courtroom because of disruptions, the release said.
Judge Corie Caraway provided the sentencing. Cabrera had already been serving a separate sentence for both assault and drug charges.
“The resolution of this case underscores the dedication of law enforcement and the resilience of our justice system,” Ramsey said. “Lies may temporarily obscure the truth, but in the end, justice prevails.”
