Defense attorneys Chris Colburn and Ted Occhialino argued that the defendant did not intend to shoot Mr. Chaires and Mr. Castorena, and asked the jury to convict him of Manslaughter instead of Murder. The jury rejected the defense arguments and convicted the defendant of Murder, Attempted Aggravated Murder, Assault I, two counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. 

Sentencing is set to take place on Friday, July 28th.

On Saturday, June 18, 2016, Fernando Chaires and Andres Castorena, best friends for most of their lives, spent the day hanging out and watching soccer. They decided to go to a Quinceanera party at The Courts in Beaverton, an athletic facility that can also be rented out for private parties. The Courts is located a short distance from the Millikan Max platform. Mr. Chaires drove them to the party. As Mr. Chaires pulled into the parking lot, he crossed paths with the defendant, who was walking home after getting off the nearby Max.

The defendant felt that Mr. Chaires wasn't paying close enough attention, and Mr. Chaires felt the same about the defendant. Mr. Chaires stopped his car, and an argument broke out at the open driver's-door window. Unbeknownst to Mr. Chaires and Mr. Castorena, the defendant was concealing a loaded handgun. The defendant pulled out the gun and shot Mr. Chaires and Mr. Castorena several times, and then turned and ran.

Mr. Castorena was shot three times. He got out of the car, called 9-1-1, and collapsed. Some people who were nearby and heard the shooting came to his aid, but it was too late. Mr. Castorena was unconscious by the time he was life-flighted to OHSU hospital, where he died. Mr. Chaires drove away, but not before he had been shot four times. He drove to the entrance of The Courts. People who were attending the party heard him drive up and scream for help. They helped him and called 9-1-1. Mr. Chaires survived with very severe injuries. According to one of the trauma surgeons who operated on Mr. Chaires, the bullets that hit him could have been fatal if they had been a millimeter in a different direction.

Beaverton Police caught the defendant a short distance away from The Courts, still in possession of the gun. The defendant admitted to the shooting. He described how he believed Mr. Chaires had almost hit him with his car and how a verbal altercation took place. He admitted to taking out the gun and shooting, but he acted as if he did not mean to shoot Mr. Chaires or Mr. Castorena. Later in the interview, he claimed he saw them moving their hands around inside the car just before he started shooting and was trying to scare them. No weapons were found inside the car or on Mr. Chaires or Mr. Castorena.

Beaverton detectives Mike Purdy and Maggie Brown headed up the investigation. They obtained text messages, surveillance footage from the nearby Max platform, and other important evidence that allowed Senior Deputy District Attorney Megan Johnson and Deputy District Attorney Jason Weiner to present a complete picture of what happened.