Sacramento judge hands down maximum sentence for Rancho Cordova birthday party murder
A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Thursday sentenced a 39-year-old man to 50 years to life in prison for a deadly Rancho Cordova shooting stemming from threats made on social media that led to a fight at a birthday party.
Judge Donald Currier handed down the maximum prison sentence for Faron Mello, who on Dec. 21 was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting death of Kenneth Neal Evans.
The murder charge included an enhancement for using a gun in Evans’ death, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. Mello also was convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun.
Authorities have said Mello shot Evans on Sept. 7, 2019, after a fight broke out in the parking lot of a venue where a birthday party was being held in the 9700 block of Lincoln Village Drive.
The fight was a result of threats made on social media up until the night of the party, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Evans was struck by gunfire in the chest and the hand. Investigators never found the gun used in the shooting.
Evans made “a dying declaration” on the way to the hospital that identified Mello as the shooter, prosecutors wrote in the news release. Evans died at the hospital. Two days following, authorities found and arrested Mello in Medford, Oregon.
Mello on Thursday afternoon remained in custody at the Sacramento County Jail awaiting transfer to prison.
