A Tulare County jury on Wednesday, Sept. 3, convicted a 23-year-old Tipton man of first-degree murder in a 2023 shooting that authorities said he planned and carried out from a distance.

James Myron Mitchell was found guilty in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, prosecutors said.

The jury also upheld special allegations that Mitchell committed the murder while lying in wait and personally discharged a firearm causing death.

About the Incident

According to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, the shooting occurred shortly before 2 a.m. on July 13, 2023, when Mitchell allegedly lured the adult male victim outside a Tulare residence and shot him from about 90 feet away.

Video surveillance captured the gunfire, prosecutors said.

Mitchell fled the scene and the state, evading law enforcement for nearly six months. He was arrested in early January 2024 by U.S. Marshals near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and extradited to California in April.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2025, where Mitchell faces life in prison.

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