PETALUMA – A jury on Tuesday convicted a 29-year-old Concord man of the first-degree murder of a 19-year-old man at a Petaluma mall in 2019, according to prosecutors.
David Kyle Lubkin faces up to 50 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced later this summer, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Lubkin met the victim, Ezequiel Garcia, at the Petaluma Outlets on Sept. 28, 2019, under the guise of purchasing a gold necklace off Craigslist. When Garcia drove up in his vehicle, Lubkin confronted him about another necklace he sold to him several days earlier, the district attorney’s office said.
Lubkin pulled a gun from his waistband and fired three shots as Garcia drove away, according to prosecutors. Garcia was hit once and died of his injuries a short time later.
At trial, Lubkin took the stand and admitted to being the shooter but claimed he opened fire in self-defense not knowing what Garcia would do while driving away, the district attorney’s office said.
In addition to convicting Lubkin of first-degree murder, the jury found him guilty of discharging a firearm at a motor vehicle causing death, according to prosecutors.
