A Manteca man has been convicted in the 2023 fatal shooting of an Amazon semi-truck driver along a freeway in California's Central Valley, an attack prosecutors described as a "senseless act of violence."

The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday that a jury found Andrew Christopher Watson, 29, guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and shooting at an occupied vehicle, also with a firearm enhancement.

The charges stem from a June 15, 2023, shooting that led to the death of Ilkhom Shodiev, a 37-year-old truck driver from North Carolina.

According to investigators, Watson merged onto northbound Interstate 5 from Highway 120 near Lathrop just before 12:45 p.m. that day. Dash camera footage showed his vehicle swerving and cutting into the slow lane before pulling up alongside Shodiev's Amazon big rig.

Watson then fired multiple shots at Shodiev, fatally striking him once in the head.

Shodiev's truck then veered off the freeway, crashing into parked cars and eventually slamming into a building. Shodiev was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

Watson fled the scene, but dash cam video, witness statements, surveillance footage, and a partial license plate led to his arrest later that month. Cell phone and bank records also placed Watson at the scene, and gunshot residue was later found in his vehicle, the district attorney's office said.

"This senseless act of violence stole the life of a hardworking husband and father who was simply doing his job, leaving his family in profound grief," said San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas in a statement. "The CHP and our prosecution team worked tirelessly to deliver justice, ensuring the defendant faces the consequences of his savage actions."

Watson has remained in custody since his arrest without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 23.