TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Porterville gang member will serve life in prison for killing a rival gang member at a motel in 2023, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office announced.

According to court records, on July 10, 2023, 29-year-old Oscar Zavala was caught in surveillance footage briefly talking with the victim before going back to his room and coming out to shoot the victim.

Attorneys state both fled the area; however, the victim was found late that morning, collapsed in a secluded area of the motel. During the investigation, detectives used a receipt found in Zavala’s room for alcohol to track his steps leading up to the shooting.

Zavala was arrested days later at a home in Porterville. At trial on Jan. 16, 2026, prosecutors reported he was found guilty of first-degree murder with the special allegation of using a firearm. On Jan. 21, the jury convicted Zavala of the special circumstance that the crime was committed to benefit a gang and that the crime constituted street terrorism.

The DA reported Tuesday that Zavala was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.