Jury Weighs Fate of Gang Member Accused in Execution-Style Murders

INDIO, CA- Jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations Thursday in the trial of a 29-year-old gang member accused in the execution-style killings of two rival gang members a decade ago.

Deliberations began Tuesday afternoon in the case of Elias Carmona Lopez, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Erineo Perez and Martin Garcia on Oct. 10 and Oct. 26, 2004, respectively. Both victims were shot several times, including in the face.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

During closing arguments Tuesday, a prosecutor said Lopez was in possession of a pistol used in two killings, lived in between the two murder scenes and provided his former girlfriend with obscure details from the crimes that only the killer would know.

“The fact is that Mr. Lopez shot Mr. Perez -- executed him,” Deputy District Attorney Scot L. Clark alleged. “Mr. Lopez executed Mr. Garcia 16 days after the other killing.”

He urged jurors to heed the account of Lopez’s former girlfriend, Ruby Garcia, who testified that the defendant confessed both killings to her a decade ago, in uncanny detail.

“She had details from both of the killings that only the killer could know,” Clark said.

Lopez’s attorneys argued that detectives ignored numerous other suspects or avenues of investigation after an informant helped them find the murder weapon, a .22 caliber pistol, under Lopez’s mattress.

Police never took fingerprints nor DNA evidence from the firearm, failed to check for gunshot residue from the hands of other potential suspects and failed to aggressively pursue other leads, attorney Peter J. Morreale said.

“This is not a drunk driving case,” he told jurors. “This is a death penalty case. This is a double murder case ... Everything that could be done should be done.”

Morreale said jurors should take Garcia’s testimony with a grain of salt, noting that she admitted being constantly high on methamphetamine at the time, and said she only purported to have knowledge of details from the second murder after being threatened with loss of her child.

Perez was found in the front seat of his vehicle near Indio City Hall and Garcia was found dead in an Indio alley. Lopez was an early suspect in both killings, but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case until July 2008, according to prosecutors.

After the killings, Lopez boarded a Greyhound bus and moved with Garcia to Arizona.

Lopez was brought back to Riverside County in 2008 from Arizona, where he had been imprisoned for armed robbery.

A penalty phase will ensue if Lopez is found guilty of the killings and jurors find true any of three special circumstance allegations, including lying in wait, multiple murders and acting in furtherance of a street gang.

— By City News Service. Image via Shutterstock.