KALAMAZOO, MI (WTVB) – A Portage man charged with a murder in St. Joseph County was ordered Monday to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole after being convicted of killing a woman in Kalamazoo County last July.
Zachary Patten was convicted for the first degree murder of 31-year-old Graciela Portillo-Esparza.
The mother of four got in the way of a bullet intended for her brother at the Americana Estates Mobile Home Park.
Prosecutors say Patten was furious about child custody battles.
After the shooting in Kalamazoo, police say Patten drove to Constantine and shot Shane Richardson, the current husband of his ex-wife. He still faces trial in St. Joseph County for that alleged killing.
