Joel Lopez Guzman thought he was going to leave a Turlock parking lot with a newly purchased 9mm. Instead, his life ended in that parking lot when he was shot six times with the 9mm.

On Friday, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced that a Stanislaus County jury had convicted Jeramie Skylar Hoover, 25, of premeditated first-degree murder for Guzman’s death.

The jury also convicted Hoover of personally using a firearm during the murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm/ammunition.

The 9mm belonged to Hoover’s cousin and he was looking to sell it. Hoover wanted to buy the gun but couldn’t afford it. Guzman, 39, had agreed to buy the gun and arranged to meet Hoover and his cousin in the parking lot of the O’Reilly Auto Parts store at 1601 Lander Ave., around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 16, 2020.

Guzman was standing next to his white Toyota sports utility vehicle when he was shot six times in the back.

Through the course of the investigation, which included interviewing multiple witnesses to the shooting and search warrants, detectives identified Hoover as the suspect. But the question of why was still looming. At least until Hoover called Turlock Police Detective Jason Tosta in December of 2020.

Hoover told the detective that he approached Guzman with the 9mm tucked into his waistband. Hoover said that Guzman kept grabbing at the gun and that he “got fed up with him,” according to the affidavit authored by Tosta, seeking Hoover’s arrest. Hoover also claimed he was in a blacked-out state when he shot Guzman.

Hoover ran back to his cousin’s car and told him to drive. They ended up in another parking lot, this time in Ceres. Hoover pointed the gun at his cousin and ordered him to get out of the car, which was found a few days later abandoned.

Tosta encouraged Hoover to turn himself in, but he refused.

He called the detective again in January 2021. He said he was going to surrender but was trying to make some money for an attorney first. Tosta obtained a warrant for the GPS location of the phone Hoover used, which led to Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

The Okmulgee Police Department contacted Hoover during a traffic stop and took him into custody on the warrant. He was booked in their local jail and later sent back to Stanislaus County to face the murder charge.

Hoover has yet to be sentenced but is facing a life term in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.