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GWINNETT COUNTY, GA– A man who attended a 2023 Norcross baby shower was convicted of murder for shooting another person at the event.
A Gwinnett County jury found Esteven Avila-Vega, 28, guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the April 2023 shooting death of 39-year-old Angel Mendoza-Ramirez.
Avila-Vega will be sentenced at a later date, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday, June 2.
“There is no place for gun violence in Gwinnett County, but a baby shower is an especially egregious place to be armed,” said Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson. “Our hope is that this verdict gives Mr. Mendoza-Ramirez’s family healing that they truly deserve.”
On April 16, 2023, the defendant attended a baby shower in Norcross with his wife and other family members. At some point during the event, a relative became inebriated and shot himself in the leg. Mendoza-Ramirez took the handgun from the relative and put it away to prevent any further misfires near children in attendance. Avila-Vega, however, demanded that the firearm be returned.
Avila-Vega provoked Mendoza-Ramirez into an argument and then produced his own handgun, according to authorities investigating the case.
During trial, evidence showed that Avila-Vega fired more than a dozen shots at Mendoza-Ramirez, emptying the weapon and even continuing to pull the trigger after there were no more bullets to fire.
Managing Assistant District Attorney Aspen Talley and Assistant District Attorney Don Geary prosecuted the case with the assistance of DA’s Investigators Ron Blackburn and Ashton Whiteside and Victim Witness Advocate Chinelo Moneke. The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Gwinnett County Police Department were invaluable in helping to close the case.