San Diego Union-Tribune

Jury finds mentally ill man guilty of murder

- Teri.figueroa@sduniontri­bune.com

A mentally ill man who ambushed and killed his neighbor in an unprovoked shooting outside her Oceanside apartment in 2018 was found guilty Thursday of murder.

Eduardo Arriola, 29, was also found to have been lying in wait when he fatally shot Devon Rideout, 24, steps from her front door as she walked her puppy.

Lying in wait is a special-circumstan­ces allegation. The finding from a Vista Superior Court jury means Arriola faces life in prison without parole when he is sentenced June 17.

There was no dispute at trial that Arriola was the one who shot Rideout outside her apartment on Los Arbolitos Boulevard. It happened shortly before 4 p.m. July 20, 2018.

Rideout, a Navy corpsman, had just arrived home and was still in uniform when she took her puppy for a walk. She was gunned down at her front door as the walk ended.

There was also no dispute that Arriola, a former Marine, is mentally ill — he was diagnosed with schizophre­nia after he went missing for a year while still on active duty. He was later discharged from the military.

Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe said Arriola opted not to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in Rideout's killing.

Still, his mental illness was central to his defense. At trial, Arriola's attorney argued that Arriola was not guilty because he was so mentally ill, he did not have the capacity to form the intent to kill.

Watanabe said the prosecutio­n did not question Arriola's diagnosis. The issue was whether the illness prevented him from forming the requisite intent to kill.

“We certainly believed he was capable of committing murder ... and that he could be held responsibl­e for his actions,” the prosecutor said.

Several friends and family were in the courtroom for the verdict, many of them wearing buttons with sunflowers — Rideout's favorite.

“Devon was everything positive,” Leslie Woods said of her daughter. “She was full of life. She was optimistic. She was adventurou­s. She was caring. She was grounded. She was independen­t. She was a really good wholesome person.”

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