Robert Leigh Moore has been sentenced to 21 years in state prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the killing of Bay City Alternators owner Aristeo Zambrano. Zambrano, 68, was shot inside his Oakland shop in February 2024 during an argument over a car battery.
According to The Mercury News, the plea agreement dropped an original murder charge and gives Moore credit for roughly 615 days he had already served. Court records cited by the outlet show he was transferred to North Kern State Prison on March 19, after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to resolve the case without going to trial.
About Zambrano and the shop
Aristeo Zambrano spent more than three decades running Bay City Alternators on International Boulevard near 88th Avenue, a stretch his family told the San Francisco Chronicle he had come to know intimately. Before that, he had a history of labor organizing with the United Farm Workers, his relatives said. The Chronicle reported he was shot shortly before noon on Feb. 3, 2024, and that his killing sent a fresh shock through a neighborhood already anxious about violence along that corridor.
What prosecutors said
Prosecutors said a witness recounted that the shooter yelled, "you sold me a (expletive) bad battery" right before opening fire, according to The Mercury News. Officers recovered a firearm three days after the attack. Earlier in the case, Judge Amy Sekany upheld key pieces of evidence at a preliminary hearing, a ruling that set the stage for the eventual plea deal instead of a full trial.
Community reaction and context
Neighbors and nearby business owners have cited rising violence along portions of International Boulevard, and Zambrano’s daughters described him as a quiet, generous fixture in the area, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The sentencing closes out a long-running local case that left family members and merchants waiting more than two years for a measure of legal resolution.
Legal notes
By entering a no-contest plea to voluntary manslaughter, Moore secured the dismissal of the original murder charge in exchange for the 21-year term and credit for time already served. While the plea brings the criminal case to a close for now, any future motions or appeals would move forward through Alameda County’s court system and remain accessible through public records.
