{"id":52028,"date":"2014-05-28T17:04:58","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T00:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=52028"},"modified":"2014-05-29T18:21:31","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T01:21:31","slug":"man-ordered-to-trial-for-murder-of-atv-rider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/05\/28\/man-ordered-to-trial-for-murder-of-atv-rider\/","title":{"rendered":"Man ordered to trial for murder of ATV rider"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stephen<\/a>
Stephen Finson was found shot to death Feb. 24, 2014 near his ATV in the 13300 block of East Avenue H.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 A 38-year-old felon accused of shooting to death a Lancaster man riding his all-terrain vehicle\u00a0in the desert must stand trial, a judge ruled after a preliminary court hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Arturo Lopez<\/strong> was held to answer to a murder charge, with an allegation that he personally and intentionally used a rifle to commit the crime, and three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon with one prior.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from the shooting death of 47-year-old Lancaster resident Stephen Finson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2014, Finson went for a desert ride on his all-terrain cycle but did not return home. After a desperate all-night search by family members, Finson\u2019s body was located the next morning by a search and rescue team near 135th Street East and Avenue H.<\/p>\n

The Navy veteran was still wearing his helmet, and his Honda ATC 250R was upright some 40 to 50 feet north of the dry wash, sheriff\u2019s officials said.<\/p>\n

\"Arturo<\/a>
Arturo Lopez was arrested on April 30 for Finson’s murder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An autopsy revealed that Finson died from a gunshot wound to the head, believed to have come from a .30-caliber bullet that went through the back of his helmet and exited through his open face mask, according to court testimony by Sgt. Robert Martindale of the Sheriff\u2019s Homicide Bureau.<\/p>\n

More than a month after Finson\u2019s death, and two weeks after a $10,000 reward was offered to help solve the crime, authorities were tipped off to Lopez.<\/p>\n

Sheriff\u2019s homicide detectives searched Lopez\u2019s residence on April 30 and found a .22 rifle and a .22 caliber revolver in a shallow hole near a fence on the outskirts of the property, Martindale testified.<\/p>\n

They also found a black scope on a stack of paint cans in a metal shed on the property, Martindale testified.<\/p>\n

Martindale was one of three witnesses who testified during the two-day preliminary court hearing for Lopez.<\/p>\n

Also taking the witness stand was Lopez\u2019s friend, Gerardo \u201cGreen Eyes\u201d Amaya. Amaya testified that he was riding in a vehicle with Lopez on Feb. 23, 2014, when Lopez stopped the car on Avenue H and said he wanted to \u201ctest fire a new pistol.\u201d Amaya said Lopez got out the car and fired a semi-automatic handgun twice towards the desert. Amaya said he remained in the car and did not see if Lopez hit anything.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s former live-in girlfriend, Vanessa Burks, testified that Lopez told her that he thought he had shot and killed someone.<\/p>\n

Testifying on Tuesday, Burks said Lopez told her that he and a friend named \u201cGreen Eyes\u201d went to scare a man and ended up shooting him.<\/p>\n

Burks said Lopez made the admission after they had watched a news broadcast about Finson\u2019s death and right as the two were getting high on methamphetamines. She said she initially did not believe Lopez because he was known for being a \u201cprankster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me \u2018Vanessa, I\u2019m serious,\u2019\u201d Burks said. She also testified that Lopez looked scared, confused and lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked me to hide him, and I said no because I was having a hard enough time hiding myself,\u201d Burks testified, adding that there was an outstanding narcotics warrant for her arrest at the time.<\/p>\n

Asked if Lopez told her what happened to the gun, Burks said, \u201cIt was supposedly ground down and gotten rid of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burks also testified that she and Lopez were heavy meth users during their 14-year relationship. Burks said that when she lived with Lopez, \u201che\u2019d be outside all the time shooting rabbits and squirrels\u201d with a shotgun. She said Lopez also fired his shotgun inside the home sometimes as a prank.<\/p>\n

Burks testified that Lopez once shot at her with a .22 rifle after the two had a fight a few years ago. \u201cI heard bullets coming by head,\u201d Burks said, adding that she took off running down the road.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s defense attorney argued that the murder charge should be dismissed because there was no physical evidence connecting Lopez to the murder, authorities were relying on testimony from a meth\u00a0addict, and the weapon used to kill Finson had not been found.<\/p>\n

The motion was denied and Lopez was held to answer on all four felony counts.<\/p>\n

He is due in court for a second arraignment on June 11.\u00a0If convicted as charged, Lopez faces 25 years to life in state prison.<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

Felon pleads not guilty to Stephen Finson\u2019s murder<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Man charged with murder of Stephen Finson<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Suspect arrested for the murder of Stephen Finson<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Memorial service to be held for Stephen Finson<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Missing man found shot to death<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 A 38-year-old felon accused of shooting to death a Lancaster man riding his all-terrain vehicle\u00a0in the desert must stand trial, a judge ruled after a preliminary court hearing Wednesday. Arturo Lopez was held to answer to a murder charge, with an allegation that he personally and intentionally used a rifle to commit the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}