On June 22, 2003, 29-year-old Gary Brian Rodela Jr. was fatally shot during a violent home invasion and attempted robbery in Los Angeles County. The incident took place in a trailer on the property of the father of firearms collector Albert Bachelier. Rodela Jr., accompanied by Ursula Gomez, entered the trailer and brandished a firearm while confronting Bachelier. Christian Morones then entered armed and acting in concert with Rodela Jr.; the two men searched the trailer, demanding hidden firearms and threatening Bachelier’s life. Rodela Jr. located a gun and told Morones to kill Bachelier. Morones pointed his weapon at Bachelier, who produced a hidden handgun and fired in self-defense, shooting both Morones and Rodela Jr. Rodela Jr. died of his wounds.

Morones was prosecuted under California’s provocative act murder doctrine and was initially convicted of first-degree murder; that conviction was reversed on appeal, he was retried and reconvicted, and an appellate court later concluded the evidence supported second-degree murder under the provocative act doctrine. Ursula Gomez pled no contest to voluntary manslaughter. No other arrests have been reported in connection with Rodela Jr.’s death.