The music swelled, a toast was raised, and a couple celebrated their new beginning. But in the shadow of that joy, an uninvited guest waited. An argument, a flash of metal, and a single gunshot in a parking lot turned a wedding into a nightmare, leaving a son dead and a family forever broken.

MIDVALE, Utah — A Utah man has been found guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting the son of a bride and groom on the night of their wedding, a brutal act that erupted after he and two others crashed the celebration.

Guillermo William Herrera, 23, was convicted last month for the November 2021 killing of Oscar Avila Jr., who was trying to protect his family’s joyous occasion from unwanted intruders. The verdict, delivered on Aug. 22, brings a measure of justice to a family whose happiest day was irrevocably stolen by violence.

According to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, the tragedy unfolded when Herrera and two other men, allegedly associated with the Dogtown gang, arrived uninvited at the Avila family’s wedding reception. The atmosphere of celebration quickly soured when friends and family noticed the interlopers and confronted them, demanding they leave.

The confrontation spilled into the parking lot. There, prosecutors said, the men shouted their gang affiliation and one flashed a concealed pistol. In a moment of terrifying escalation, Herrera also produced a handgun.

It was then that Oscar Avila Jr., the son of the newly married couple, rushed Herrera in a desperate attempt to protect his family. Surveillance video captured the horrifying sequence: Herrera pistol-whipping Avila until he fell to the ground, then standing over him and firing a single, fatal shot into his chest. Herrera and the other men then fled the scene, leaving Avila to die in the parking lot of his parents’ wedding.

Avila Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene, a brutal end to what was meant to be a night of unity and love.

Herrera was found guilty not only of first-degree felony murder but also on charges of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, obstructing justice, and aggravated assault. His sentencing is scheduled for October 20.

The conviction reveals a chilling history of violence. Local outlet KSL reported that Herrera was previously sentenced to prison in connection with a 2020 shooting that left another man paralyzed, after pleading guilty to obstructing justice and felony discharge of a firearm.

For a family that gathered to celebrate a lasting union, the verdict closes a painful chapter, but cannot erase the memory of a son lost in an act of senseless violence on a night that should have been defined by love.