Modesto man found guilty of 2018 murder of Luis Alberto Diaz-Lopez near Tunitas Creek

A 31-year-old Modesto man, Omar Meza, was found guilty on Wednesday of the 2018 murder of Luis Alberto Diaz-Lopez, 26, near Tunitas Creek.

Prosecutors with the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said Meza had a woman drive Diaz-Lopez and himself to the coast with the intent to rob him. The group parked at a pullout south of the Tunitas Creek bridge. Both men got out of the car, where Meza shot and killed Diaz-Lopez, the Half Moon Bay Review previously reported.

Meza was arrested by San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies in 2020. Authorities believed the killing to be gang-related.

At one point in his trial, Diaz-Lopez’s brother and an associate jumped over the court’s railing and beat Meza during the questioning of a witness on the stand. The two men were arrested, and Meza was said to have not sustained any injuries during the confrontation, the San Mateo Daily Journal reported in Dec. 2021.

A jury found Meza guilty on one count of first-degree murder with special circumstances and felony robbery with a firearm — since Meza took jewelry and other belongings after he killed Diaz-Lopez.

The jury deadlocked 8-4 on a murder for robbery charge. Meza is set to be sentenced on Nov. 29 and is facing prior felony violations as well.