Lake County man guilty of murder in 2011 shooting

A Lake County man faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder for killing an Upper Lake woman during an attempted robbery involving methamphetamine.

Following a nearly two-month trial in Lake County Superior Court, the jury Friday also found Daniel Ray Loyd, 53, of Nice guilty of assault with a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with the September 2011 shooting death of Cindy Yvette Quiett, Lake County Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine said Tuesday.

Prosecutors argued that Loyd had attempted to rob Quiett’s boyfriend, Patrick Ryden, of methamphetamine and money in Lucerne.

Ryden told deputies that Loyd had held a gun to his head during the attempted robbery. Ryden said he knocked the gun away and was fleeing when he heard a gunshot.

Quiett, shot in the abdomen, later was pronounced dead at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

Loyd was arrested the same day. His sentencing date has yet to be determined, DeChaine said.