A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted two reputed gang members of first-degree murder in the Memorial Day 2008 shooting death of an innocent north-side family man.
The panel found found Jose DeJesus Gonzalez, 24, guilty as the accused gunman in the May 26, 2008, shooting death of Jose Isabel Guerrero, 47. Gonzalez testified at trial that he witnessed the shooting, but he said it was a juvenile he identied as "Little Eddie" who pulled the trigger.
Co-defendant Jaime Torres, also 24, also was found guilty. Witnesses identified him as the man who confronted Guerrero the day of the killing while trying to call out his step-sons who authorities said belonged to a rival gang.
Jurors acquitted Gonzalez' younger brother, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 23. Prosecutors identified him as the driver who transported his brother and others to and from the shooting scene at Guerrero's home on LIndley Drive in a neighborhood called "The Flats."
Authorities said the defendants and several other Norteno gang members who have already been convicted in the case approached Guerrero's house looking for his step-sons who are reputed to be rival Surenos.
Guerrero, who was holding his baby daughter, threatened to call the police on the group. Torres then slugged Guerrero with a pistol. Guerrero managed to dislodge the gun and gain the upper hand on Torres in the ensuing melee, witnesses said. It was then, jurors found, that Gonzalez picked up the gun and fatally shot Guerrero in the head.
Judge Kevin J. McCormick scheduled the sentencing on Jose Gonzalez and Torres for Oct. 14.
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