ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE
Case # 14CF2681
Date: October 14, 2016
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Garden Grove man was sentenced today to 114 years in state prison for shooting into a vehicle which killed a man and injured two women. Dustin Sean Ross McDonald, 25, was found guilty by a jury on June 14, 2016, of one felony count of first degree murder, two felony counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, and sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death or great bodily injury.
On Aug. 12, 2014, McDonald arranged to meet with the three victims in Santa Ana for what they thought would be a drug transaction. At approximately 11:30 p.m. that night, the defendant drove up to the victim’s vehicle, just north of the Orange County School of the Arts, in the area of East 12th Street and Main Street, stepped out of his vehicle, and walked around to the front passenger side of the victims’ vehicle while armed with a firearm. The defendant fired approximately 10 shots at the victims, murdering the front passenger, 23-year-old Aaron Chavez. McDonald wounded both the 21-year-old female driver of the vehicle, Ashlee Caldwell, and the 28-year-old female passenger, Ingrid Gonzalez. Continue reading
