Anaya found guilty of murder

JANELLE STECKLEIN

There were tears on both sides of a Potter County courtroom Wednesday after a 32-year-old man was found guilty of murder.

Potter County jurors found David Abraham Anaya guilty of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the 2009 drive-by shooting that killed 18-year-old Eric Mireles.

The punishment phase, which will determine how much time Anaya must serve in prison, is slated for 10 a.m. today in the 47th District Court.

Anaya was found guilty of firing a weapon at the car Mireles was riding in May 31 after a confrontation at My Club, an after-hours nightclub on the Fritch Highway.

Mireles later died in the driveway of his aunt's house in the 1400 block of North Manhattan Street of the gunshot wound.

Authorities captured Anaya in August 2009 at an apartment complex in Albuquerque, N.M.

Nearly two dozen people - some supporters of Anaya and others with Mireles' family - waited anxiously for a verdict.

When it came after about an hour of deliberations, people on both sides cried. One woman, who supported Anaya, quietly sobbed.

Members of Mireles' family comforted each other, hugged prosecutors and thanked them.

Anaya faced forward as the verdict was read and didn't appear to react, but he later appeared to be teary-eyed as he tightly hugged loved ones before being taken to the Potter County Detention Center.

He faces up to life in prison.

Amarillo, TX - A Potter County jury has sentenced convicted murderer David Anaya to spend at least 30 years behind bars before he can be paroled. He received 99 years for murder and 40 years for assault but could be paroled as soon as 2041.

On Wednesday a Potter County Jury found Anaya guilty in a local shooting death.

The jury took about one hour to find 32-year-old David Anaya guilty of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Anaya shot and killed 18-year-old Eric Mireles in May of 2009.