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SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 32-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of gunning down a man in Anaheim in a botched robbery as the victim walked home from a store in the middle of the afternoon.
Brandon Deandre Norwood was convicted of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a firearm causing death and a felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Norwood is scheduled to be sentenced July 29.
Norwood was convicted of killing 30-year-old Oscar Humberto Chunmichicoj on March 3, 2019.
The victim walked from his apartment that day to a store to fill up two water bottles at a kiosk and was headed home when he was attacked, according to Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex.
Norwood was in a car that was following the victim, Alex said.
Norwood got out of the car and followed the victim on foot before confronting him, Alex said. Video surveillance showed him shooting the victim through the head and running back to the car, which fled the area, Alex said.
Chunmichicoj had $110 in his wallet and a cell phone on him, but he resisted the attempted robbery and his killer got away with nothing, Alex said.
A witness got a partial license plate number, allowing police to narrow down suspect vehicles. License plate reader cameras helped place the car in Downey the day before and in Anaheim the next day, according to Alex.
The car was rented in Ontario by Norwood's cousin, Jazzmon Russell, Alex said. Norwood was on parole at the time for pimping and could be seen on social media posts wearing the same blue track suit as the gunman in the killing, Alex said.
Investigators also used cell phone records to locate where Norwood was at the time of the killing, and they also ran what is called a "Perkins Operation" when Norwood was arrested, using an undercover officer to talk to the suspect in custody, where he made incriminating remarks, Alex added.