Guilty in the first degree

The man accused of the sniper-style, random shooting of a driver waiting to turn into the intersection of Highway 32 and Bruce Road two years ago was found guilty Aug. 19 in Butte County Superior Court.

Jeffrey James Menzies, 29, who was born in Richvale and lived in Chico at the time of the early-morning, Sept. 21, 2011, shooting, was accused of parking his car at the intersection after an evening of drinking at a Durham bar. He then hid at the southwest corner of the intersection, waiting for a target to appear. That target was 26-year-old David Yang, who was headed to work at a rehabilitation facility off of Bruce Road in the wee hours of the morning. Menzies was arrested later that day, when he went to the Chico Police Department to report his car had been stolen.

He will be sentenced on Oct. 11 and faces life without parole. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said his office didn’t seek the death penalty so as not to draw out the case and risk losing a key witness.