TULARE COUNTY, Calif. — A Tulare County man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder, officials announced.
Douglas Paul, 32, received the sentence following his conviction for the 2022 killing of a woman in Porterville.
Police responded to reports of shots fired at the scene, where they found the victim in her vehicle, which had rolled backward into a fence. She was transported to a hospital but later pronounced dead. Witnesses reported hearing 4 to 6 gunshots and saw a white SUV leaving the scene.
Investigators determined the victim had a recent conflict with Paul. Police obtained a search warrant for the OnStar GPS in Paul’s white Chevy Equinox, driven that night by 36-year-old Yvette Carillo, which confirmed the vehicle’s presence at the scene. Cell phone data from both Paul and Carillo also placed them nearby.
On March 31, 2022, law enforcement tracked Paul and Carillo to a residence. During a SWAT operation, Paul attempted to dispose of firearms. Officers detained Paul, Carillo, and two others, finding multiple firearms, ammunition, drugs, and a stolen 9mm handgun. Ballistics later confirmed this gun was the murder weapon.
At trial on December 2, 2025, a Tulare County jury convicted Paul of premeditated first-degree murder with special allegations for using a firearm and lying in wait. He was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and had two prior strikes under California’s Three Strikes law.
Carillo was previously sentenced on October 22, 2025, to 17 years to life after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and firearm possession.
