Man gets life sentence for fatal shooting at Smyrna party

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson sentenced a Marietta man to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of turning a gun on himself after shooting someone to death during a Fourth of July party in 2020. 

The judge’s ruling stems from a fatal encounter in a Smyrna home in the 4000 block of Hawthorne Circle during the early morning of July 5, 2020. During the trial, prosecutors said Elias Bustamente shot Michael Arreola three times at point-blank range during an argument at the holiday gathering. Bustamente, 24, then shot himself in the head in an attempt to kill himself. 

A jury on July 27 found Bustamente guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer. 

According to a news release from Cobb District Attorney Flynn D. Broady, Arreola protested when a highly intoxicated Bustamente began showing off his pistol — a Glock 23 .40-caliber handgun. Arreola told Bustamente to put the gun away because the victim’s infant daughter and several other children were sleeping in an adjacent room. Bustamente objected to Arreola’s demands and pointed the gun at him. Court documents show Arreola pleaded for Bustamente to drop the weapon, but he shot the victim twice in his chest and once in his upper leg. He then shot himself on the right side of the head near his temple. 

“Michael bled out just steps away from his little girl. The jury’s verdict and this sentence hold the defendant accountable for his actions,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Green said in Tuesday’s news release.

Several people who witnessed the shooting testified during Bustamente’s trial last month, according to prosecutors.