OXNARD : Jury Convicts Man in Slaying of Transsexual

An Oxnard man who shot a transsexual three years ago for dancing with his brother was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder but not guilty of first-degree murder.

Jury foreman Robert G. Taylor said Daniel Montenegro Delgado, 24, was acquitted of first-degree murder because he was not quite rational on Christmas night, 1987, when he fired six rounds point-blank into Rosando Sanchez-Reyes, a pre-operative transsexual who called himself Crystal.

Witnesses testified and Delgado told police that he found his brother, Loreno Montenegro, dancing at El Bohemio in Oxnard with Sanchez-Reyes, 29, who was dressed as a woman and had grown breasts by taking female hormones. Enraged, Delgado pulled the two apart and argued with Sanchez-Reyes, then walked outside, according to witnesses.

He returned moments later with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol hidden under a jacket over his arm and shot Sanchez-Reyes, witnesses testified.

The jury deliberated for two days before returning its verdict.

Jurors believed that Delgado was not rational enough to have premeditated slaying Sanchez-Reyes, but they also believed that he did not deserve a lesser conviction of manslaughter because he was conscious of his actions during the shooting, Taylor said.

Delgado faces a prison sentence of 17 years to life, Deputy Dist. Atty. James Ellison said. But Delgado is not eligible for probation because the jury also found that he used a firearm and inflicted great bodily harm on the victim, both of which carry mandatory prison sentences, Ellison said.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 15.