, Fla. — An Orange County jury found 27-year-old Nicholas Carrasquillo guilty of second-degree murder after a little more than two hours of deliberation.
He’s convicted in the shooting death of 30-year-old Alex Sligh. Prosecutors say Carrasquillo shot Sligh in a fit of road rage.
Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with Sligh’s family by phone moments after the verdict was read.
“We are very pleased at how fast the verdict came down,” Debbie Bouton, Sligh’s aunt told Channel 9. “We can have a sense of justice that he was taken unjustly. That someone literally murdered Alex in cold blood.”
Carrasquillo argued he shot in self-defense.
This is despite the fact, investigators and even Carrasquillo saying, Sligh never got out of his car and never pulled out a weapon.
Carrasquillo’s attorney argued that Sligh cut Carrasquillo off in traffic. The two then argued at a red light. When Sligh didn’t move when the light turned green, Carrasquillo said he felt stuck and felt Slight made a threat.
“He said you’re going to have to shoot, of course, that’s a threat,” said Carrasquillo’s defense attorney Deborah Barra.
Carrasquillo says he shot as he saw Sligh reach toward his center console. He claimed he didn’t know whether Sligh was reaching for a gun or his gear shift.
“I made a decision to save my life,” Carrasquillo said on the stand Thursday.
Investigators say the whole encounter between Sligh and Carrasquillo lasted less than a minute before Carrasquillo shot Sligh who was still behind the wheel of his car.
Sligh leaves behind a son who was 1-year-old at the time of the shooting.
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