Reputed Gang Member Convicted of Murdering Man in Union City in 2008

A reputed gang member has been convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder for a shooting at a Union City park in 2008 that left a 28-year-old man dead and another man seriously injured. Jurors deliberated for only a day a half before reaching their verdict against 23-year-old Joel Perry Jr. for the shooting in Kennedy Park in Union City at about 6 p.m. on Feb. 29, 2008, that claimed the life of Juan Carlos Gomez, a Hayward man who prosecutor Elgin Lowe said wasn’t a gang member.

In addition to murder and attempted murder, jurors convicted Perry of two counts of attempted robbery as well as gang and gun use enhancement clauses in connection with the incident. Jurors also convicted Perry of three counts of assault with an assault pistol for a separate incident that occurred two years later at Ash Street Park in Newark on June 14, 2010. Lowe said Perry and several other reputed gang members approached Gomez and Daniel Donate, Gomez’s friend, on Feb. 29, 2008, and asked them if they belonged to a rival gang. When Gomez and Donate said they didn’t belong to a gang, Perry and his colleagues tried to rob them but Gomez and Donate resisted, according to Lowe.

The prosecutor said Perry then fired shots that ultimately killed Gomez and nearly killed Donate, as a bullet struck Donate in the face below his cheekbone and blew out his two front teeth. Gomez, who was driving, managed to briefly drive away but then his car broadsided a parked car on J Street. He was pronounced dead at that location.

Lowe said that in the June 14, 2010 incident Perry fired five shots at three men who had gotten into an argument with a girl he knew but none of the three men were injured. Lowe said Perry will likely face a term of life in prison when he’s sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson later this month.

The prosecutor said Noel Cruz, 23, previously pleaded no contest to manslaughter and attempted murder in connection with the 2008 and 2010 incidents and was sentenced to 37 years in state prison. Another defendant, Raymond Romo Jr., pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years. A fourth defendant, Damian Alaniz, 22, has been ruled to be mentally incompetent to stand trial at this time but Lowe said he thinks that’s because Alaniz stopped taking his medications. Lowe said Alaniz is now taking his medications again because he’s been temporarily placed in a state medical facility.

Lowe said he believes that Alaniz will stand trial in the near future. Alaniz is scheduled to appear in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward on Wednesday for a progress report on his mental health.

By Bay City News

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