SANTA PAULA : Lopez Cleared in Slaying of Neighbor

The Ventura County district attorney’s office decided Wednesday it will not prosecute a Santa Paula man in the May 28 shooting death of his neighbor.

Delfino Lopez, 43, was cleared in the killing of Samuel Ruiz, 40, because investigators could not disprove Lopez’s claim that he shot Ruiz in self-defense, Deputy Dist. Atty. James Ellison said.

Witnesses have given conflicting reports to police and investigators about a shoot-out between the men in the driveway separating their homes. Ellison said Lopez apparently shot Ruiz in the chest, abdomen and right arm in the attack with a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Ruiz fired a shot at Lopez, but apparently missed him, Ellison said.

Santa Paula police said the shooting was related to a fight, involving Lopez’s and Ruiz’s sons, between rival Crimies and Party Boyz gangs one week before.

Ellison said that the circumstantial evidence does not support accounts by two witnesses, who told investigators that Lopez shot Ruiz in the back after Ruiz walked away from an argument. The coroner’s report said Ruiz was not shot in the back.

Ellison said several witnesses told investigators that Ruiz waved a pistol at Lopez for a minute and a half before any shots were fired and appeared to have been drinking before the incident.

Lopez was arrested on suspicion of murder the day of the shooting and held until June 1, when he was released for lack of evidence. The district attorney’s office has been reviewing the case and reinterviewing witnesses.