Man will spend over eight decades in prison for a Long Beach woman’s death in 2018

Long Beach, California – A years-long murder case has finally seen justice served after the man accused in connection with the incident was sentenced to 89 years to life in prison last week.

Despite the evidence presented at court showing the incident appeared to be accidental and the victim was an unfortunate bystander, the defendant made the situation difficult for himself in the days that followed the shooting by avoiding arrest and prosecution, prompting the jury to be harsher with the sentence.

The 24-year-old Anna Perez was killed in the incident that occurred on December 1, 2018, and the 46-year-old Sylmar resident, Thomas McCreary, was sentenced for her death.

The defendant was out in downtown Long Beach celebrating the birthdays of both his girlfriend and his nephew. After the celebration ended, he got into an altercation with a group of people after returning to his vehicle, which was parked in a downtown lot between Pine and Pacific Avenues on Third Street. Then, the individuals attacked his vehicle with a skateboard, and at that point, McCreary pulled out a gun and opened fire at the group, but instead of hitting the intended target, the bullet ended up hitting Perez, who was nearby with her friends.

A jury found McCreary guilty on August 3 of murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and two additional enhancements for personally and intentionally using a firearm to produce great bodily injury. He was sentenced to 89 years to life in prison on Thursday for the crime he committed.

Authorities said McCreary’s girlfriend, nephew, and the mother of his children were also arrested and convicted for helping him in the commission of a criminal act.