Brothers Convicted in Shootings That Left 1 Dead and 1 Injured

An Anaheim man who became embroiled in a post-midnight fight over a parking space was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of the man he quarreled with. The defendant’s brother was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter for actually pulling the trigger.

Jurors in North Orange County Superior Court in Fullerton found Warren John Romero, 42, innocent of conspiracy but guilty of second-degree murder and of attempted second-degree murder. His brother, 37-year-old John Wayne Romero, was found innocent of conspiracy but guilty of voluntary manslaughter and attempted voluntary manslaughter.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard F. Toohey said Warren Romero quarreled over a parking space at 2 a.m. last July 22 with Edward Francis Hines Jr., 22, who was staying with a friend at an apartment complex in the 3500 block of West Cornelia Circle in Anaheim. The older Romero also lived in the complex.

Warren Romero telephoned his brother, who arrived with a loaded .22-caliber handgun, Toohey said. John Romero waited at the foot of a staircase with the weapon while Warren pounded on the door of the apartment of William Ray Stelle, where Hines was staying.

Stelle told investigators that when they opened the door, John Wayne Romero fired at them. Stelle was struck in the arm and injured, while Hines was shot fatally in the chest.

Judge James F. Judge set March 14 for sentencing of the Romero brothers, both of whom have been in jail since their arrest the day of the shootings.