DEBARY, Fla. - Julio Rivera, a 52-year-old resident of DeBary, has been convicted of first degree murder in the shooting death of his friend in a storage unit. He was also convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The incident reportedly occurred in 2019 when Rivera was in the storage unit with his friend, Roberto Ovalle. He had apparently been living in the unit, which Ovalle rented out. He's said to have kept his supply of heroin and marijuana there, which he sold as a drug dealer.
A dispute arose when Rivera is said to have grown dissatisfied with his living situation. The dispute turned heated, and Rivera told Ovalle he had something to show him. According to Ovalle's girlfriend, Casey Bathjer, the one witness present at the scene, he then shot Ovalle in the head. At this point, Rivera is said to have given the gun and magazine to her and left the scene.
The trial concluded on Thursday, when the jury returned a guilty verdict for both the murder and the gun possession charge. Prosecutors claimed Rivera confessed to the killing in a recorded phone call from jail, an element they used in their case. Records with the Volusia County Branch Jail show that Rivera was also charged with being a fugitive from justice and battery in a county jail.
