The murder trial of a San Diego man charged in a 2012 South Bay killing has been set for July 18 while two Chula Vista men await sentencing for their roles.
Salvador Cuellar, 30, was ordered to stand trial for the Jan. 28, 2012, shooting of Hector Arce, 36. Arce of Imperial Beach was shot five times in the head and neck and pronounced dead at the scene.
Reyes Michael Cruz, 26, and Adrian Ernesto Lopez, 21, both pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and will be sentenced April 28 in Chula Vista Superior Court.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Reizen said Cruz faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison while Lopez could get a maximum 11-year term.
Shelly Villalobos, 27, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and she received two years in prison in 2015.
Cuellar was ordered to stand trial for murder by Judge Edward Allard III in a preliminary hearing and he received his trial date on Feb. 11. Cuellar and the Chula Vista men are alleged to be gang members, but the prosecutor said they had mistaken Arce for a rival gang member as they did not know him.
Cuellar was also ordered to trial for possessing a weapon in the central jail. Reizen said when Cuellar was being moved from a cell, deputies found a thin five-inch piece of wire that was sharpened at the end. It was hidden inside a tube of toothpaste.
The judge viewed security surveillance video at the hearing that depicted Cuellar, Lopez and Cruz all walking near the scene of the shooting which was in the 1300 block of Imperial Beach Boulevard.
Lopez and Cruz were arrested Sept. 3, 2014, by sheriff’s deputies following a long investigation. Cuellar was the last person arrested on Oct. 22, 2014.
Cuellar, Cruz and Lopez remain behind bars.
