Kern County Verdict: Man Convicted in Oildale Shop Killing

A Kern County jury has found a man guilty of murdering a security guard during a robbery at an Oildale tobacco shop, authorities said.

Cesar Vasquez was convicted of first-degree felony murder with a special circumstance that the killing occurred during the commission of a robbery, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.

Jurors also found him guilty of robbery and attempted robbery. Additional findings that Vasquez was personally armed with a firearm and personally discharged the weapon causing death were found to be true.

The case stems from a July 3, 2022, shooting at Gravity Tobacco in Oildale. Kern County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire and found Odulio Rodriguez suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Rodriguez died at the scene.

Investigators determined that Vasquez arrived at the business, carried out the shooting and fled in a vehicle, based on video surveillance and evidence collected at the scene. Authorities said the business had hired Rodriguez as a security guard two weeks earlier following a prior robbery at the same location that Vasquez later admitted committing on May 20, 2022.

Vasquez was arrested several days after the killing and, during an interview with homicide detectives, confessed to the July 3 robbery and the shooting death of Rodriguez, as well as the earlier robbery, prosecutors said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 2, 2026. Vasquez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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