Man Charged in Shooting Death Behind OC Market

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – A 23-year-old Riverside resident on probation was charged Monday with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man behind a shuttered grocery store in Santa Ana.

Joshua Encinas, who was arrested Thursday, also faces a sentencing enhancement allegation for the discharge of a firearm causing death.

Encinas is accused of shooting 23-year-old Joseph Frank Garcia about 10:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the alley behind a shuttered Food 4 Less store at 1900 N. Grand Ave., according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Garcia and Encinas have gang ties, but detectives are continuing to try to determine the motive for the shooting, Bertagna said.

A day after the shooting, a cousin of Garcia's was run over by a car and killed while attending a candlelight vigil in Garcia's memory.

Sonny Steven Zieres, 26, of Orange, is charged with killing 27-year-old Trisha Irene Verdugo of Santa Ana in that case.

Court records show that Encinas pleaded guilty last year to possession of heroin and a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol while in a car with two gang members. He was sentenced to 182 days in jail, or time already served, and was placed on three years of probation.

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--City News Service/Image via Santa Ana PD