Arias then turned his .22-caliber handgun on Duenas while attempting to take off in Macias car, which had been left at the curb with the motor running. . .after firing on Duenas, Arias set the car on fire on Hallock Driver near the Santa Clara River before fleeing.Arias didn’t surface until he was arrested for carjacking - he reportedly accidently shot himself in the leg during the incident - and other charges in the Palm Springs area in February 1998; he had been in Mexico before reentering the United States.The second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison; Arias is also facing an additional nine year maximum sentence for attempted murder and a same amount for the carjacking as well as up to six years for the arson, potentially another 32 years added to the second-degree murder sentence. He will be sentenced Feb. 17.Macias, a noted athlete and popular graduate of Santa Paula High School, was working at Kmart at the time of his death and was devoted to his son, according to trial testimony, and his worries over the child's care was what led to the confrontation at Chavez's home.
Arias guilty! Jury convicts Fillmore man for murder of Richard Macias Jr.
December 17, 1999
Santa Paula News
The jury in the murder case of Richard Macias Jr. didn't waste any time to come back with a decision of guilty to second degree murder and related charges against a Fillmore man, whose attorney suggested he be convicted instead of manslaughter.
The trial of Jaime Arias, now 25, charged with gunning down Macias - shot once in the back - and wounding his brother on Jan. 3, 1997, ended Wednesday with his conviction on second degree murder, attempted murder, arson and carjacking. The jury started their deliberations after the four-day trial Wednesday morning and returned with their verdict before 4 p.m.According to Deputy District Attorney James Ellison, the murder charge was quickly decided by the jury who took longer on the carjacking tied to the murder.Arias had been sought since he fled the scene of the shooting that left Macias, 19, mortally wounded and his and his brother, Jesse Duenas with serious wounds from multiple gunshots. The shooting occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on the 800 block of East Santa Paula Street, where Macias had gone to visit his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his son.According to testimony at the trial, Macias had visited Annette Chavez, upset because he believed she was neglecting their 2-year-old son. Once he arrived at the residence, he found her with her boyfriend, Arias, and several other people.According to Arias’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Howard Asher, Macias started the fight that led to the shooting. But prosecutors said the gunshot wound in his back proved that Macias was running from Arias when he was shot, falling on the sidewalk across the street from Chavez’s residence.
