Jury verdict reached for Valley man who murdered wife. Her death led to new California law
Julio Garay of Chowchilla was found guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday for fatally shooting his estranged wife, Calley Garay, outside of her doctor’s office last year.
The Madera County jury also found Julio Garay, 50, guilty of lying in wait, assault with a deadly weapon for shooting at the driver of the Victim Services van that Calley Garay, 32, used to get to her appointment, and three counts of felony child abuse. Calley Garay was shot to death in front of her three children.
Julio Garay is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17 in Madera Superior Court.
Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno said Garay could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Police said Calley Garay was a victim of domestic violence and was able to escape from her abusive husband in May 2020.
But a few months later in July, he found out she had a doctor’s appointment at the Camarena Health Center. He waited for her to arrive and when he saw her he began firing. She was shot multiple times and later died at the hospital.
Calley Garay’s family said that someone at Camarena Health Center mistakenly provided details of her doctor’s appointment to her estranged husband.
Hoping to prevent that from happening again, a new state law, known as Calley’s Law, was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Ana Caballero, D-Salinas, revises domestic violence restraining order forms to prevent third-party entities — such as schools, medical and dental offices — from releasing information to an alleged abuser.
Judges will be able to make the selection on the forms. The bill also requires entities caring for children and medical offices to develop protocols to comply with the changes.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 4:37 PM.
