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- A jury found Alimohammed Hamid guilty of second-degree murder for a 2024 shooting.
- Prosecutors said Hamid shot Joseph Anthony Soto in the back after a dispute.
- Hamid faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in prison and will be sentenced July 1.
A jury on Tuesday found a man guilty of second-degree murder for a shooting two years ago in the parking lot of a south Sacramento Wingstop restaurant.
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Alimohammed Hamid, 23, was convicted for the shooting death of 38-year-old Joseph Anthony Soto Jr., the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday in a news release. Hamid’s murder conviction also included an enhancement for using a gun in the crime.
The shooting was reported about 10:15 p.m. Feb. 24, 2024, just outside the Wingstop in the 5900 block of Florin Road, just west of Stockton Boulevard.
That night, Soto parked and began walking toward the Wingstop. Hamid was parked in the next space. Prosecutors said Hamid backed out of the parking space and rolled down his rear passenger window, beginning some type of “verbal exchange” with Soto.
Soto responded, which led to an argument between the two men. Soto then turned around to continue walking to the Wingstop.
Prosecutors said Hamid then grabbed a gun from the center console of his vehicle and fired one gunshot out through the opened rear passenger window. The gunshot struck Soto in the back.
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Hamid immediately left the shooting scene, and got rid of the gun and the expended shell casing, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Soto, wounded, stumbled into the Wingstop seeking help. Sacramento County sheriff’s officials said at the time that Soto was conscious and breathing, and he was taken by ambulance to a hospital. His condition deteriorated to life-threatening soon after, but his condition was stabilized.
Soto remained hospitalized for a few weeks before he succumbed to complications from the gunshot wound and died on March 21, 2024.
Two weeks after Soto died, sheriff’s investigators arrested Hamid on suspicion of homicide in the shooting.
Prosecutors said Hamid faces a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in prison for Soto’s death. Hamid on Wednesday remained in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail. He is scheduled to return July 1 for his sentencing in Sacramento Superior Court.
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