Former San Diego State football player Martin Miller was found guilty yesterday of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from a double shooting in the San Joaquin Valley in 2005.
A Tulare County jury convicted Miller, 24, after several witnesses to the shooting identified him as the killer of 17-year-old Jesse Rios, who was shot in the face with a .40-caliber handgun. They also said Miller shot Dario Davalos, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, who was hit in the arm and survived.
Miller, a lineman who was part of the Aztecs' “Dark Side” defense in 2004, now faces 50 years to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 21.
“I believe justice was served in this case,” said David Alavezos, who prosecuted the case.
Police said Miller told them he shot a weapon he found at a party and that he thought the victims were going to shoot first.
Miller testified during the trial that he never confessed to police, that he didn't shoot anyone and didn't know who did.
“Martin says it wasn't him,” said Bill Mueting, the public defender who represented Miller in the trial in Visalia. “But there was a bunch of eye witnesses who had all kinds of descriptions.”
Miller transferred to SDSU in 2004 out of Moorpark College. He lettered for the Aztecs that fall, when he made 11 tackles in nine games. But he became unhappy and left SDSU before his senior season. Within a year, on Nov. 13, 2005, he attended a birthday party in Tulare. A fight broke out. Shots were fired. Two males and one female, each 17, were wounded and taken to Tulare District Hospital.
Davalos and Rios, who had not been harmed at that point, went to the hospital to check on and aid the victims. So did Miller.
After an altercation broke out in the hospital lobby, those involved were asked to leave. One of Miller's relatives then got into a verbal confrontation with Rios in the parking lot, where Rios tried to explain that he was there for an injured friend, according to the Tulare district attorney's office.
According to the district attorney, Miller then approached Rios within a few feet, fired once and killed him. Davalos said he was trying to calm the situation when he was shot in the arm as he turned to run.
Brent Schrotenboer: (619) 293-1368; brent.schrotenboer@uniontrib.com
