Testimony continued this week in the murder trial of two South Bay gang members who are charged with shooting a man to death on Paradise Valley Road in 2009.
Prosecutors said the killing was committed “to enhance their reputation for violence.”
Darren Roy Martinez, 22, and Hector Martinez, 18, are not related to each other and accused of fatally shooting Guillermo “Willie” Esparza, 18, around 2:15 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2009.
Esparza and a friend were walking on a sidewalk in the 7300 block of Paradise Valley Road when they were confronted by two men who issued a gang challenge, the prosecutor said.
“Where you from?” said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Diaz, who was quoting one defendant speaking to the would-be victim and his friend.
“I don’t bang,” said the man’s friend, as quoted by Diaz.
Diaz told the San Diego Superior Court jury one man shot Esparza twice in the leg and, while he was on the ground, fired a shot into his chest that severed an artery and punctured both lungs. Esparza was shot a fourth time. Diaz said the gun was never recovered.
Diaz said Hector Martinez fled into Mexico.
On Sept. 1, 2009, Darren Martinez stabbed two people at a fast food restaurant following a gang challenge, said Diaz.
Darren Martinez is charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and committing the crime in association with a criminal street gang.
Stacy Gulley, who represents Darren Martinez, asked the jury to keep an open mind and said the prosecution won’t be able to prove its case.
Gulley said the man with Esparza that night could not identify either defendant as the killer.
Attorney Marcee Chipman, who represents Hector Martinez, reserved her opening statement to be given when her defense starts this week.
Jimmy Parker testified two men approached him and Esparza and one male issued a gang challenge by asking Esparza where he was from.
“If he’s askin’ for that, he’s looking for trouble,” said Parker, who added that Esparza didn’t answer because he wasn’t in a gang.
He said one man yelled the name of a gang before shots were fired.
“Esparza collapsed on the street and began choking on blood, said Parker.”
“His eyes were rolled back,” Parker said.
Loud sobs from several female spectators were heard in the courtroom when descriptions of Esparza’s death were made.
Parker testified he could not identify either defendant in court, saying both men wore hoodies at the time and he didn’t see their faces.
He said the shooting happened so quick and both men ran down Paradise Valley Road afterward.
Sherri Zuleta, 22, testified she was driving in the area that night and saw “a body near the sidewalk.” She said the man’s friend was waving his arms in a “very frantic” way. “He yelled his friend got shot.
“He didn’t know what to do,” said Zuleta.
A passenger in Zuleta’s car, Lisa Baugh, 22, testified she saw the man in the street had blood near his head, and he did not move or seem conscious. She called 911 on her cell phone and told a dispatcher what Parker was telling him.
The two suspects were Hispanics and one yelled the name of a gang, Parker told the woman.
Baugh said Parker was extremely distraught and ran to a fire station down the road to try and get a paramedic for his friend. She said she was in shock herself and, through tears, said she wished she could have done more.
Hector Martinez, who was 17 years old when the shooting occurred, is being tried as an adult and remains in the downtown central jail without bail. Darren Martinez is housed without bail at the South Bay Detention Facility.
