By Rosalio Ahumada and Michael McGough
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A jury on Tuesday found a man guilty in the murder of a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy at a Rancho Cordova auto parts store during a 2018 shootout.
The jury convicted Anton Paris, 44, on a charge of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the Sept. 17, 2018, shooting that killed Deputy Mark Stasyuk and wounded his partner. The jurors had been deliberating since last week in Sacramento Superior Court.
“So obviously a very emotional day for everybody involved, especially Mark’s family,” Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said after the verdict was read in court. “And of course, everybody that he worked with, he touched us all.”
Stasyuk, 27, died after being shot in the head when what started as a routine call for service at a Pep Boys store on Folsom Boulevard escalated into what sheriff’s officials called an “extensive” firefight.
Stasyuk and his partner, Julie Robertson, 28, were dispatched to a customer disturbance call at the store. Within seconds, they became engaged in a gunfight with Paris; Robertson was shot in the arm, authorities said. She survived and has since returned to duty.
“We stand with Deputy Mark Stasyuk’s family and Deputy Julie Robertson and her family,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said in a news release. “With today’s verdict, we are one step closer to justice.”
Paris and his ex-girlfriend were at the Pep Boys on Folsom Boulevard in Rancho Cordova. Paris became agitated and began pacing around the store in an aggressive manner, while making blatant threatening remarks, according to a news release from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said several employees observed Paris knocking things off shelves and saying he was going to kill everyone in the store. One of the employees was able to call law enforcement. The deputies arrived at the store and asked Paris if they could speak with him.
Security camera video showed both deputies did not have their guns out or their hands on their weapons at this time, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Paris ran toward the store’s open front doors, and Stasyuk followed Paris. Prosecutors said before Stasyuk made it to the doors, Paris pulled out a semi-automatic gun and began to fire. Gunfire hit a store employee in the upper back.
Paris turned to face Stasyuk, who still had not drawn his weapon, and fired at the deputy, prosecutors said. Stasyuk was hit in the torso, which caused him to stumble out of the store into the parking lot.
Then, Paris moved closer to Stasyuk and fired his gun again, shooting the deputy in the head, before he fired his gun at Robertson, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Robertson was trying to radio for help, and there was a second exchange of gunfire.
Other deputies who responded to the shooting confronted Paris along Folsom Boulevard. Prosecutors said Paris ran toward the deputies and fired at them, before they returned fired. Paris was wounded and taken into custody.
Authorities at the time said a Pep Boys employee was also injured. The jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict on an attempted murder charge related in the shooting of the Pep Boys employee. As a result, the court dismissed that attempted murder charge.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced the verdict Tuesday afternoon in a news release — which did not mention Paris by name, but only as “Deputy Mark Stasyuk’s killer.”
“Deputy Stasyuk’s dedication to serving our community will never be forgotten, and today’s verdict brings a measure of justice to his memory and solace to his loved ones, our agencies, and our entire community,” sheriff’s officials wrote.
Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Omar Singh prosecuted the case.
Paris, who remains in custody at the Sacramento County Jail , is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 19.
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