A Riverside County deputy who was on duty when he fatally shot his girlfriend’s ex-partner has been sentenced to probation, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
The incident occurred in 2014 when Oscar Rodriguez, then a deputy with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, learned of Luis Morin’s location from his girlfriend, Diana Perez. Prosecutors said Rodriguez went to Morin’s mother’s house in Coachella and confronted Morin as he returned home from a family birthday dinner. Without notifying other law enforcement and believing he was serving a felony arrest warrant, Rodriguez engaged in a struggle with Morin before shooting him in the left side.
Rodriguez was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter by a jury in June. Although prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence, Rodriguez received one year in jail and 10 years of probation. He was credited for 194 days already served.
Mark Frederick, Rodriguez’s attorney, told KESQ that “Rodriguez’s position was all along that his life was in danger. The jury’s finding supported that, so that was liberating for him in a sense.”
During sentencing, Arianna Mejia, Morin’s sister, addressed the court: “Your honor please, please don’t slap us in the face with probation,” she said. “I beg of you, probation will take away everything that my family has been through, my mother, please, do not allow probation, I beg of you. Probation is allowing an ex-police officer or police officers to allow them to commit crime like this.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Garcia expressed disappointment with the outcome: “This sentence minimizes the gravity of Rodriguez’s actions and the devastating impact on Mr. Morin’s family, while also disregarding the significant effort the jury devoted to reaching a just verdict. We firmly believe a stronger sentence was warranted to reflect the seriousness of this crime and to hold the defendant fully accountable.”
Rodriguez resigned from his position at the sheriff’s department in 2024.
Riverside County is located about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
