A man on trial for murder in the shooting death of a father who had been holding his baby daughter denied today that he had anything to do with the killing.
Jose DeJesus Gonzalez, testifying in his own defense, put the blame on a mystery gunman he identified as "Eddie Romo Diaz."
Police and prosecutors arrested and charged eight people in what they described as the May 26, 2008, gang killing of Jose Isabel Guerrero, 47, outside his Lindley Drive home on Sacramento's north side.
None has been identified by the name Gonzalez offered.
Gonzalez, now 24, admitted that he was with a group of men who approached Guerrero's home the day of the killing. He said he went along to watch a fight that he thought would involve one of his co-defendants, Jaime Torres, 24.
Authorities said that when the group approached him, Guerrero, who was holding his baby, called police on a cell phone. When a fistfight ensued between Torres and Guerrero, investigators say the gun popped loose and Gonzalez picked it up and shot the victim.
In his testimony today, Gonzalez said it was the mysterious "Eddie" -- part of the group that approached Guerrero's house -- who retrieved the gun and shot Guerrero.
Gonzalez' brother, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 23, also is on trial in the case.
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