Man Convicted Of 2 Counts Of First-Degree Murder For Old Sacramento Bar Shooting

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man accused of the shooting deaths of two people in an Old Town Sacramento bar on New Year's Eve 2012 has been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder.

Carlito Montoya was also convicted of assault with a firearm and the enhancement of premeditated and deliberate attempted murder with an infliction of great bodily injury for the incident that cut short a night of festivities in a popular tourist area.

The shooting happened in Sports Corner Café and began when Amber Sholz reportedly told her husband, Charles Fowler-Scholz, that Gabriel Cordova spilled a drink on her. The defendants then surrounded Cordova and Fowler-Scholz's friend, Carlito Montoya, hit him in the face with his beer bottle.

Daniel Ferrier, a bar security guard, tried to break up the fight, but Montoya pulled out a gun from his waistband and shot him several times, killing him, according to Deputy District Attorney Anthony Ortiz.

Stephen Walton, who was also working as a security guard, tried to stop the fight, but was also shot. He returned fire at Montoya, hitting him.

Montoya then shot and killed Cordova.

Montoya was arrested by police as he was backing out of the bar, suffering from gunshot wounds.

Montoya faces the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 140 years. Sentencing scheduled for May 12, 2016.