Man accused of shooting and killing Amazon big rig driver in Lathrop pleads not guilty
MANTECA — The man accused of shooting and killing an Amazon big rig driver in Lathrop pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge Tuesday, San Joaquin County Superior Court said.
The charge against Manteca resident Andrew Christopher Watson, 29, came with a firearms enhancement that carries up to 50 years to life in prison.
On June 15 at around 12:46 p.m., Ilkhom Shodiev, 37, from North Carolina, was driving northbound on Interstate 5 near Lathrop in an Amazon big rig when, for unknown reasons, he was shot. The shooting sent the big rig off the freeway and into parked cars at a nearby business before crashing into a building.
Shodiev was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Watson, who was arrested in late-June, remains in custody on a no-bail hold.