Shooter sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for 2015 murder of teen in Orangevale

Mario Andreas Contreras was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in prison for the 2015 fatal shooting of a teenager in Orangevale, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said.

A jury convicted Contreras, 21, on April 23 of first-degree murder with use of a gun in the killing of 16-year-old Erik Ozee.

On the night of May 31, 2015, Contreras walked up to a group of young people in Orangevale and asked for Ozee, who he thought had previously robbed him. Ozee ran and Contreras pursued him, fatally shooting him in the head, a news release from the DA’s Office said.

Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies, who were called after area residents reported hearing gunshots, found Ozee in front of a house in the 5600 block of Skyridge Drive. The teenager, who lived in Citrus Heights, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department arrested Contreras the following day, his 18th birthday. He remained in the Sacramento County jail without bail throughout his trial.

Contreras was sentenced in Sacramento Superior Court on Wednesday by Judge Michael Savage.