Jury issues guilty verdict in South Sacramento Thanksgiving motel murder

A man accused of murdering his former girlfriend at a South Sacramento motel was found guilty yesterday by a jury at Sacramento Superior Court.

Mario Michael Mayorga was convicted of the first-degree murder of Tina Morales. The jury also found true that Mayorga used a deadly weapon during the murder. 

Evidence introduced in the trial showed  that Mayorga and the victim were in a dating relationship. On November 24, 2016, Thanksgiving Day, the victim checked into a motel near Stockton Boulevard and Mack Road

Morales had Thanksgiving dinner with Mayorga and the two then walked to a friend’s house. Another friend drove the two back to the victim’s motel room at 1:30 a.m. and later that morning, a motel employees found the victim who was stabbed multiple times. 

Mayorga,who had two previous convictions for assault,  faces a maximum sentence of 75 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for March 15, 2019. by Judge Eugene Balonon.