Gabriel Zepeda convicted of the 2022 murder of Theresa Carina on State Street

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Gabriel Zepeda of Santa Maria was convicted of the March 14, 2022, murder of Theresa Carina on State Street near Stearns Wharf.

Zepeda, 49, was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery with special circumstances following a five-week trial shared the Santa Barbara Police Department in a press release Friday.

On March 14, 2022, law enforcement began to investigate the suspicious death of an unhoused woman found in the parking lot of Surf N Wear's Beach House near Stearns Wharf in the 100 block of State Street .

Later the same day, Zepeda was arrested while wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor in connection with the murder and robbery.

On March 16, the 49-year-old Santa Maria man was officially charged with the killing and the special circumstance that the murder occurred during a robbery and that Zepeda had a prior felony conviction that qualified as a strike offense.

Zepeda is currently scheduled for sentencing on June 16, 2026, where he faces a potential life sentence without the possibility for parole shared the Santa Barbara Police Department.

The Santa Barbara Police Department added that he will remain in custody without bail.

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