The gunman who shot a National City man to death outside a restaurant after the viewing of the World Cup soccer match in 2014 was sentenced Friday to 47 years and eight months in state prison.
During the three-hour sentencing by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag Daniel Arce Gonzalez, 37, received consecutive sentences for the slaying of Josue Crook, 36, a father of four.
Salvador Oswaldo Chavez, 38, who was at the scene with Gonzalez, was sentenced to 17 years to life. Both men were convicted by a jury June 18 of second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in the stabbing of Eddie Lopez who was also outside the National City restaurant.
A brawl started during the World Cup viewing party outside the Rincon Del Mar restaurant on Highland Avenue, following the Mexico vs. Brazil soccer match. Some of the violence was captured on video surveillance cameras. Crook ran outside the restaurant and was not part of the brawl, but it was believed that Lopez threw a bottle at someone.
Sontag said Lopez was the intended target of Gonzalez, not Crook. She said Chavez stabbed Lopez , who was not seriously injured. “I think the video clearly shows Mr. Chavez taking that knife and clearly defending Mr. Gonzalez,” said the judge.
The families of Crook, Gonzalez, and Chavez filled most of the seats in the emotional sentencing where many tears were shed.
Sontag turned down the request by Gonzalez’s attorney, Jan Ronis, to reduce the murder charge to voluntary manslaughter after he claimed Gonzalez acted in self-defense. Deputy District Attorney Melissa Diaz said the self-defense argument “has no basis in fact.”
Chavez’s attorneys, Rachel Scoma and Mark Bluemel, argued unsuccessfully for a new trial, saying he played no role in shooting Crook and Chavez did not know Gonzalez had a gun with him.
Both men received 15 years to life for the murder, but Sontag imposed a consecutive 25-year sentence for Gonzalez for using a gun in a homicide. Both Chavez and Gonzalez received a consecutive two-year term for Lopez’s stabbing.
Gonzalez got five years and eight months more for having prior convictions for domestic violence, and a gun charge.
Both men were ordered to pay $4,908 to the crime victim’s compensation fund along with a $594 fine. They received credits for already serving 515 days in jail.
“The absence of a son can only be understood by those who have gone through this,” said the victim’s mother, Berta Crook, tearfully. “He was a man with a great heart.”
“Josue was my mentor,” said his sister, Sara Crook. “I was robbed of a man who can never be replaced in my life. His life was a light to the world.”
Bluemel said he wanted the audience to know “he’s not the person who pulled the trigger.” He added that “Mr. Chavez has found God” while in jail.
“Although I had nothing to do with this, I am truly sorry for your loss,” said Chavez to the victim’s family. “I found God through this.”
One of Chavez’s daughters said tearfully “We’re all losing somebody. It’s not fair. He’s getting charged with something he didn’t do.”
Sontag made a recommendation to the state Department of Corrections that both men serve their sentences at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility near the border as their families live in San Diego County
