Final Suspect in 2007 Napa Gang Slaying Faces Trial

The final suspect in a four-year-old gang killing has been found accountable for his actions and will be held to answer along with the two other defendants who are also accused of murdering 19-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez in 2007.

At Monday’s preliminary hearing, Judge Francisca Tisher ordered 25-year-old Jaime Peña, Jr., to answer to one count of murder.

Gonzalez was shot in the head December 2007, during a fight between rival gang members at a Laurel Street apartment complex in west Napa.

He died a few days later in the hospital. Police said he was a Sureño gang member.

A short time after Gonzalez’s murder, police arrested and charged Stephen Barrios, then 19, Daniel Ortega, then 19, Christian Gallegos, then 18 and Raymond Almodovar, then 18, with Gonzalez’s death.

Peña was also a suspect, but remained at large until authorities located him in Mexico in early 2011. He was extradited to Napa County and charged in February in the gang shooting of Gonzalez.

During Peña’s preliminary hearing Monday, deputy district attorney Bryan Tong and defense attorney Diane Bylung questioned police officers who responded to the fatal gang fight in 2007.

Napa Police Officer Jeffrey Hansen was one of them. Hansen testified he saw the victim lying on the ground bleeding. He also said there was a large crowd fighting in the street.

Napa Police Sgt. Brian Campagna, lead investigator in the case, testified about the events the night that led up to the altercation between the rival Norteño and Sureño gang members.

Campagna said that during an interview with a gang member, the man said he heard Peña and Barrios talking.

He said Peña said, “'Yeah, I shot him.' And Barrios said 'yeah, I heard the shot and saw him (Gonzalez) fall to the ground,' adding, the two were laughing about it,” Campagna said.

After the shooting, everyone fled the scene, leaving Gonzalez dying in the middle of the street.

Gallegos testified that Ortega asked him for a ride home and instead they drove to the river where Ortega got out of the car with a towel wrapped around something, which he threw into the Napa River.

In closing arguments Tong said Peña had a motive for the shooting: In July before Gonzalez’s murder, Peña, a Norteño gang member, was stabbed by a rival Sureño.

"The Laurel Street shooting was in retaliation for Peña being stabbed,” Tong said.

Anatomy of a gang killing

The night of the shooting, Gonzalez went to a quinceanera party in Napa.

The chain of events started after the party when Peña, Ortega, Gallegos and Almodovar were driving in a van along with other gang members and spotted Gonzalez driving in west Napa.

The van followed Gonzalez to the 2900 block of Laurel Street where the fight erupted and Gonzalez was fatally shot.

In addition to the murder charge, Peña is also charged with shooting a firearm from a vehicle, discharging a firearm causing great bodily harm, street terrorism and several gang enhancements.

Ortega, Barrios, Gallegos and Almodovaro have been charged as adults. According to police, all of the suspects are Norteño gang members.

Since the initial arrests, the district attorney has dismissed the charges against Gallegos in exchange for information about those involved in the murder.

Almodovar has entered a guilty plea with the district attorney. He will not be charged with murder.

If found guilty, all of the defendants could face life in prison.

Peña is scheduled to be arraigned in superior court on Aug. 10.

Tong said a motion will be made to consolidate the three defendants’ trials.