The gunman who fired three shotgun blasts at Jordan Hickey as the National City man was pushing a bicycle up a hill in 2011 abruptly pleaded guilty April 2 to first-degree murder and the special circumstance of lying in wait.
Humberto “Beto” Galvez, 22, avoids a possible death sentence as he was set to stand trial in May. Galvez will receive a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Deputy District Attorney David Grapilon.
On March 25, a San Diego Superior Court jury convicted the getaway driver, Juan Ignacio Gomez, 24, of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of committing a drive-by shooting of Hickey, 21. Gomez and Galvez will receive the same sentence of life without parole.
It is likely Galvez was influenced by the jury’s verdict against Gomez, who is his cousin, and decided not to have a trial as Grapilon would have sought the death penalty.
Both men will be sentenced April 24 by Judge Jeff Fraser and they remain in jail since their 2012 arrests.
“I believe justice has been done. I think the sheriff’s department did a fantastic job. The sheriff’s department deserves the credit,” said Grapilon.
The DA’s office notified Hickey’s mother, Jeannine Hickey, and family members of Galvez’s likely plea. Jeannine
Hickey said after Gomez’s verdict it “gives me peace” to know that both men would never leave prison and possibly hurt someone else.
“We want the family to be OK. This has been a long and trying four years, and we really want this to be over,” said the victim’s cousin, Stephanie Christman, to KNSD-TV.
Galvez also pleaded guilty to attempted robbery of a man in the 2200 block of National Avenue in 2012. The man was painting the outside of a church at the time when Galvez approached him with a knife, said Grapilon.
With the guilty pleas, Galvez cannot appeal. Gomez can appeal the jury’s verdicts.
After Hickey was killed on April 29, 2011 at 12:35 a.m. in the 2800 block of Grove Street, the trail for the killers went cold. A break came in 2012 when Rodney Acosta, a friend of Gomez and Galvez, was arrested for carjacking, and he told investigators he knew who killed Hickey.
To verify what Acosta told sheriff’s detectives, an elaborate sting operation was set up by detective Alex Navarro in which Acosta wore a wire while talking separately with Gomez and Galvez. Some of it was also videotaped and their statements were used against them.
Acosta got probation for the carjacking case, but ironically, he later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a 2013 shooting in which he, his brother and father were all sent to prison for roles in the death of a Chula Vista man.
Detectives Leslee Hall and Suzanne Fiske also spoke with Gomez and Galvez after their arrests and their statements were taken. Gomez and Galvez were put together in a room to see what they would say to each other. Galvez said little, but remarked, “My whole life—just wasted.” Galvez was 19 years old at the time.
