D.A. charges both sides with murder for gang slaying

12:26 AM
By Sara Suddes





Police arrest Angel Solarzano, 19, along Highway 25 just over the county line in San Benito County for the murder of Larry Martinez, who was gunned down in the middle of the afternoon in November, just blocks from the Gilroy Police Department. Police said Solarzano was with Martinez and two fellow Norteño gang members when they attacked three Sureños, who shot and killed Martinez. Solarzano was arrested for murder using a rarely invoked "provocative act murder rule," which allows anybody to be charged with murder if they were involved in an act that provoked a killing.






The district attorney is pulling out all stops to arrest gang members, using a rarely invoked rule to bring murder charges against five suspects - including three friends of the man who was shot down.

Police have arrested two men and one woman in connection with last year's shooting death of 18-year-old Larry Martinez - which took place just blocks away from the Gilroy Police Department - and police are searching for two additional suspects. Police arrested Heather Ashford, 18, and Angel Solarzano, 19, both of Gilroy, Monday on murder warrants in connection with Martinez' slaying. Last week, police also arrested Cristian Giovanni Jimenez, 21, on a murder warrant, on an administrative warrant from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on an additional unspecified warrant and for probation violation.

The case is unusual because neither the police nor the district attorney allege that either Ashford or Solarzano, who were fighting on the same side as Martinez, shot him. However, both agencies said that the pair - along with a third outstanding suspect - were involved in acts that caused other people to shoot and kill Martinez.

Thus, the district attorney's office can charge the trio that was with Martinez with murder under what is known as the provocative act murder rule, said Assistant District Attorney David Howe. The trio was involved in criminal activity and knew the consequences of their provocative acts could endanger human life, he said.

"It set in motion a chain of events they should have known would result in someone's death," Howe said.

In addition to the three suspects who accompanied Martinez, the district attorney's office issued murder warrants for two others who were involved in the altercation - one of whom was Jimenez. At least one of these two people was directly involved in shooting Martinez, police said.

About 1 p.m. Nov. 11, 2008, a group of Sure'o gang members, including Jimenez, threw an object at a passing vehicle near Church and Sixth streets, according to police and witnesses who were at the scene of the shooting. The vehicle was driven by Ashford and contained three other passengers, including Martinez, Solarzano and another female passenger who is not being charged, said Sgt. Jim Gillio. Both Martinez and Solarzano were Norte'o gang members, Gillio said.

The vehicle's occupants left the area to pick up another man - who is not in police custody - and drop off the female passenger, Gillio said. Ashford and the three men then returned about 1:20 p.m. to the area near Sixth and Church streets to confront the group of Sure'os.

The vehicle's three male occupants - Martinez, Solarzano and the third suspected Norte'o male - exited the vehicle to confront the group of Sure'os, Gillio said. Martinez was carrying a small baseball bat, Gillio said. Ashford remained in the vehicle.

As he approached the Sure'os, Martinez raised his bat in a threatening manner and two of the Sure'os pulled out handguns and fired on the group of three Norte'os, killing Martinez, Gillio said. Both sides of the altercation fled prior to police arriving and no one other than Martinez was injured during the altercation, police said. Witnesses said there were three Sure'o gang members involved in the fight.

Martinez' family members said he had been in Gilroy for only a week after getting out of jail and had plans to turn his life around.

They held a public vigil days after the killing that was marred by the outbreak of a fight. The killing also sparked what appeared to be a retaliatory drive-by shooting, for which two young men - Joshua Williams and Israel Juarez, both 19 - were sentenced to about four years in prison after they pleaded no contest to willfully discharging a firearm last month.

Police arrested Jimenez about 5:30 p.m. Thursday on the 700 block of El Cerrito Way during an ICE-led sweep of South County, Gillio said. Jimenez was sitting on the couch in the front room of the El Cerrito residence when the enforcement team knocked at the door. He was taken into custody without incident, Gillio said.

Another known gang member, Moises Cossio, 23, was arrested at the same location for probation violation but not in connection with the Martinez murder, Gillio said. The terms of Cossio's probation stipulated that he could not hang out with other gang members, Gillio said.

The ICE sweep netted a total of 17 foreign nationals with ties to violent street gangs in Morgan Hill, San Jose, San Martin and Gilroy. At least eight suspects were arrested in Gilroy. The sweep lasted all day Thursday and also involved the Gilroy and Morgan Hill police departments and the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Despite one case where police had to force open an interior door to apprehend a suspect who was on probation and had outstanding warrants for burglary, "everything went very smoothly," Gillio said. "It was a great cooperative effort.

Gilroy police received Jimenez' no-bail murder warrant just hours before the scheduled ICE sweep and were relieved that it came in time, Gillio said.

"We knew the warrant would be coming," he said. "We were glad we were able to serve all the warrants at the same time. It made things run much more smoothly. It's satisfying to see this come to a conclusion."

Solarzano was arrested during a traffic stop on the side of Highway 25 in San Benito County just over the county line by Regional Auto Theft Task Force agents. And Ashford was arrested at the Gilroy Police Department without incident after police brought her in for questioning.

"I give credit to Investigators (Jim) Callahan and (Michael) Bolton and Detective (Stan) Devlin," Gillio said. "They all worked well together and with outside agencies to bring this complicated case to a conclusion and take several dangerous gang members off the street."


What is provocative act murder rule?

The provocative act murder rule allows the district attorney to charge someone with murder if they were involved in a crime that eventually led to someone's killing. The reasoning behind this is that the person committing the crime contributed to circumstances that provoked violence, and the person who was killed would not have been killed if not for the original crime.

Source: Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney


Who was involved in the Nov. 11 altercation?

Larry Martinez: Norte'o; 18; deceased

Angel Solarzano: Norte'o; 19; in police custody

Heather Ashford: Possible Norte'o; 18; in police custody

Unknown male: Suspected Norte'o; not in police custody

Cristian Giovanni Jimenez: Sure'o; 21; in police custody

Unknown male: Suspected Sure'o; not in police custody

Unknown male*: Suspected Sure'o; not in police custody

Source: Gilroy Police Department

* According to witness statements


Sara Suddes covers education for the Gilroy Dispatch. Reach her at ssuddes@gilroydispatch.com



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