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A jury on Monday found Christopher Rodriguez guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2023 shooting death of a man during a child exchange outside a South Valley fast-food restaurant.

But the 2nd Judicial District Court jury found Rodriguez not guilty of the more serious charge of second-degree murder in the killing of 33-year-old Tristan Isaacs.

Judge Brett Loveless could sentence Rodriguez up to 14 years in prison at a sentencing hearing in September.

Jurors deliberated about four hours Monday after defense and prosecution attorneys in closing arguments offered differing narratives of the events that led to Isaacs鈥� shooting death.

Prosecutors argued that Rodriguez, 25, invented a self-defense claim after learning from an arrest affidavit that Isaac was armed with a handgun when law enforcement arrived at the scene.

Rodriguez testified last week in his second-degree murder trial that he shot Isaac in self-defense after Isaac ripped opened the door of the car Rodriguez was driving and pointed a gun at his head.

鈥淭his is easy,鈥� defense attorney Stephanie Gulley told jurors on Monday. 鈥淭his is a self-defense case through and through.鈥�

Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 deputies responded to a 911 report of a shooting outside the Blake鈥檚 Lotaburger near Coors and Arenal SW around 7 p.m. on March 14, 2023.

Deputies found Isaacs lying dead near his Jeep with a 9mm pistol in his hand and multiple shell casings nearby, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Prosecutor Christine Jablonsky said in closing arguments that Isaacs didn鈥檛 draw his handgun until after he was fatally shot and staggered away from the car Rodriguez was driving.

Jablonsky based her allegation on a recording of a 911 caller who said she saw Isaac pull the gun from his waistband only after he fell to the ground fatally injured by multiple gunshots.

鈥淢r. Isaacs never had that firearm out while he was engaging with the defendant,鈥� Jablonsky told jurors.

Rodriguez 鈥渇abricated this self-defense claim,鈥� Jablonsky told jurors. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 have a self-defense plan until he read the facts in the arrest warrant. That鈥檚 what made him think he could claim self-defense.鈥�

Prosecutors allege that Rodriguez fired at least six gunshots at Isaacs during the dispute and later lied to an investigator, saying he was not at the scene.

Gulley responded in closing arguments that prosecutors offered no evidence that Isaacs didn鈥檛 pull his gun until after he was fatally shot .

Deputies who arrived on the scene were hesitant to approach Isaac because he was gripping a 9mm pistol with his trigger, Gulley told jurors.

鈥淗e is lying down, his eyes are open and he鈥檚 got a gun in his hand,鈥� Gulley said. 鈥淟aw enforcement don鈥檛 even approach him. If that鈥檚 enough to give law enforcement officers pause, what would it do to the average citizen?鈥�

The killing occurred during a contentious custody dispute between Isaacs and Rodriguez鈥檚 girlfriend, Brittany Sena, over Isaacs and Sena鈥檚 2-year-old daughter, court records show. Emotions were heightened that day by confusion over the time and place of the child鈥檚 handoff.

Rodriguez testified Friday that he had dated Sena for nine months, and the two were living together at the time. The day of the killing, Rodriguez said he drove Sena鈥檚 white Nissan Altima to the restaurant to pick up the girl from Isaacs.

Gulley told jurors that Rodriguez was disliked by Isaacs and his family and that Isaacs was known to carry a firearm.

Sena told a Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 investigator that Isaacs was angry when he arrived at Blake鈥檚 Lotaburger, according to the criminal complaint. Isaacs attempted to open the driver鈥檚 door of her Nissan, and an argument began between him and Rodriguez, it said.

Sena told deputies that she was removing her daughter from Isaacs鈥� Jeep when she heard gunshots, then saw Isaacs stumbling back toward his vehicle, where he collapsed, the complaint said.

Rodriguez then drove to an area near Sage and 98th SW, where he cleaned blood off the exterior of the Nissan, Sena told investigators.

Jurors found Rodriguez guilty of tampering with evidence for cleaning blood off the car. But they acquitted him of a charge of child abuse for allegedly shooting in the girl鈥檚 direction when he shot Isaac.

Rodriguez is currently serving a prison sentence on federal drug charges. He was sentenced May 29 in U.S. District Court in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to 70 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of fentanyl.