A man has been found guilty of kidnapping and killing a three-week-old baby and shooting her parents in southern California.

Anthony Ray McCall, 32, of Oceanside, was convicted of murder and attempted murder. He faces life in prison.

His lawyer argued during the trial that he had been framed.

Prosecutors said McCall snatched Eliza De La Cruz from her mother's arms at a Long Beach home on 3 January 2015 after his friend followed the woman home from a bus stop.

McCall also shot the girl's mother, father and uncle with a gun using a silencer made from potatoes the court heard. All three survived.


The baby was tied up in a plastic rubbish bag and dumped in a bin in San Diego County. She died from asphyxiation.

McCall stole the infant because his friend needed a newborn after falsely telling her married boyfriend that she had had twins, prosecutors said.

Weeks later McCall made a failed attempt to steal a four-month-old boy in an attack in which the mother was beaten with a baseball bat in an El Segundo motel, authorities said.

The mother of the dead child testified during McCall's trial.

Jacqueline Honorato said she pleaded with the kidnapper not to take her baby. She told the court: "I couldn't do anything to stop him."

She tried to chase him and said she heard the voice of a woman telling the baby "I'm your new mommy".

"Did you ever see her the baby again?" the prosecutor asked. In tears she replied: "No."

McCall's friend, Giseleangelique Rene D'Milian, pleaded no contest to murder and attempted murder in January and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

A third defendant, Todd Damon Boudreaux, 46, is waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to being an accessory.