Joseph Mayorga Jr.

A Lee County man has plead guilty in the February 2017 murder of a Fairfield man.

According to court records 35-year-old Joseph Mayorga Jr. plead guilty Tuesday in the shooting death of 47-year-old James Merlin Nelson. Nelson’s body was found at a Lee County roadside park, and an autopsy determined Nelson was killed by a single gunshot to the head. Mayorga is convicted for murder in the second degree, and is sentenced to 50 years in prison. He is required to serve 70% of his sentence and pay $150,000 in restitution.