A Tulare County jury on Tuesday found Douglas Paul, 32, of Porterville, guilty of the 2022 shooting death of a woman in south county, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Porterville police were called to reports of gunfire on March 16, 2022, and found the victim shot inside her vehicle, which had rolled into a fence. She was pronounced dead shortly after at a hospital.

Witnesses reported hearing four to six shots and seeing a white SUV flee. Detectives later learned the victim had ongoing conflicts with Paul and Yvette Carrillo, 36.

Yvette Carrillo

A warrant for the OnStar GPS system in Paul’s white Chevy Equinox placed the vehicle at the scene, and cell phone data linked both suspects to the location.

Police tracked Paul and Carrillo to a residence on March 31, 2022. After a SWAT perimeter was set, officers saw Paul attempt to dump firearms into a neighbor’s yard before retreating, the DA’s office said. He later exited with Carrillo and two others and was taken into custody. A search turned up multiple firearms, ammunition, drugs, and a stolen 9mm pistol in a vehicle Paul had been seen driving.

According to prosecutors, the jurors convicted Paul of premeditated first-degree murder, finding he used a firearm and was lying in wait. He was also found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and the crime was ruled his third strike. Paul has two prior 2014 felony convictions: assault with a semiautomatic firearm and assault with a deadly weapon, both with a gang enhancement.

Carrillo pleaded to second-degree murder and firearm possession and was sentenced on Oct. 22 to 17 years to life.

Paul is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 23 in Department 20 and faces life without the possibility of parole.

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