A Rancho Cordova house party that turned deadly in 2022 has now ended in a decades-long prison sentence. A judge has ordered Amyis Coogler to serve 40 years to life for the shooting death of 20-year-old Corey Shearer outside a gathering on Ramsgate Way, capping a case built on surveillance footage, DNA evidence and a recovered handgun that has gripped both Amador and Sacramento counties.
Conviction and evidence
According to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, a jury convicted Coogler on March 19 of second-degree murder and found true an allegation that he personally discharged a firearm causing death. Prosecutors said DNA taken from evidence in the case matched Coogler, and that video showed him hiding in a neighbor’s backyard shortly after the gunfire. The DA’s office noted at the time that sentencing would be set for a later date in Sacramento Superior Court.
Where it happened
The shooting broke out around 11:20 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2022, at a home in the 3000 block of Ramsgate Way in Rancho Cordova, where deputies found Shearer on the lawn with four gunshot wounds, The Sacramento Bee reports. He was rushed to a hospital and later died of his injuries. The Bee reports the party drew an estimated 75 to 100 people and that many attendees initially shared little with investigators, slowing early progress in the case.
Sentence handed down
FOX40 reports that the Hon. Ernest Sawtelle imposed a 40 years to life sentence at Coogler’s hearing. According to that coverage, the judge handed down the term after prosecutors walked through the jury’s verdict and the evidence presented at trial. The punishment lines up with the potential exposure prosecutors had outlined once the case moved from conviction into the sentencing phase.
Family reaction
Shearer’s mother told KCRA she felt a “weight just come off” after the guilty verdict and said the family welcomed the accountability the court process delivered. Relatives had been publicly urging witnesses to come forward in the years since the killing, a steady push that kept the case in the spotlight while detectives chased leads. In KCRA’s reporting, family members described Shearer as outgoing and full of plans before his life was cut short.
How investigators linked him
Detectives say the break came in February 2024, when DNA collected during a separate arrest matched evidence from the party shooting, according to CBS Sacramento. Investigators also said earlier releases of surveillance images triggered tips that helped point them toward Coogler. Authorities reported that a 9 mm handgun was found near where Shearer was shot and that forensic testing tied the weapon to the crime. Prosecutors ultimately leaned on that mix of eyewitness accounts, surveillance footage and forensic matches to win the conviction.
Legal note
Coogler was 17 at the time of the shooting but was tried as an adult. Under California law, the jury’s finding that he personally discharged a firearm significantly increased his sentencing exposure. Prosecutors had previously said he faced a maximum of 40 years to life, and the term imposed by the court mirrors that range, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. The conviction will remain on Coogler’s record and is expected to factor into any future parole or post-conviction proceedings.
