A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm for a fatal shooting at a South Natomas sports bar in 2022.

Toese Asiata, 34 at the time of the shooting, was convicted of murder and assault this week in the death of Nicholas Snead, 38, at Cheers Bar and Grill in South Natomas on Sept. 13, 2022, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday.

The trial began May 29, and the jury began deliberating Monday, according to Sacramento Superior Court filings. The District Attorney’s Office said the jury “found true allegations that Asiata personally discharged a firearm causing death and great bodily injury.”

Asiata’s sentencing is scheduled for July 12 and he faces a maximum sentence of 72 years to life in prison.

Snead reportedly bumped into Asiata while dancing to music at the bar, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Asiata then pulled out a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun from his backpack and shot Snead, striking him five times and killing him, prosecutors said. Another victim was also struck by gunfire and required “lengthy hospital and nursing home stays, multiple surgeries and physical therapy,” the District Attorney’s Office said. Asiata then fled the bar and went to Hawaii to escape capture, prosecutors said.

Sacramento Police Department officers responded to reports of a shooting at the bar, on the corner of West El Camino and Truxel Road, around 12:40 a.m. on the night of the shooting, according to previous Bee reporting. Snead was pronounced dead at the scene. The bar, which was inside the Park Plaza shopping center, has since closed.

Asiata was arrested the following month in Honolulu and was later extradited to California to stand trial for the murder, after police used witness interviews and surveillance footage from the incident to identify Asiata as the gunman.

In October 2022, police responded to reports of gunfire at a vigil held for Snead only three weeks after the deadly shooting. Officers found evidence that a shooting had occurred, but there were no injuries or damage.