DA takes plea deals from 2 charged in girl's '04 murder

By Susan Herendeen
sherendeen@modbee.com

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Faced with the prospect of a retrial and no star witness, a prosecutor recently signed off on plea deals and prison sentences of less than 10 years for two of the five teenagers accused of fatally shooting a 17-year-old girl who wore a maroon blouse in Oregon Park.

A bullet pierced the heart of Ernestina "Tina" DeJesus Tizoc about 5 p.m. May 26, 2004, as she sat under a gazebo, chatting with friends.

Witnesses said the shots came from a white Chevrolet Blazer filled with teenage boys who wore blue and shouted Sureño gang slogans, as they circled the park in Modesto's airport neighborhood.

A defendant who testified against his buddies said his crew was trying to send a message to Norteños, or Northerners, who wear red.

Nearly five years after Tizoc's death, two passengers in the Blazer pleaded guilty to manslaughter and acknowledged membership in a street gang. Pedro Luis Castillo, 21, and Rigoberto Moreno, 22, both of Modesto, accepted plea deals late last week as a second trial in their case was about to begin. They were sent to prison for nine years, eight months, and will have two strikes on their record when they are paroled.

Manuela Ramirez, Tizoc's mother, said she accepts the outcome but would have preferred longer sentences for Castillo and Moreno, because she believes accomplices are as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger.

"They're all guilty," Ramirez said in Spanish. "They took my life and my daughter's life. May God forgive them, but I can't."

Castillo and Moreno were tried on murder charges in fall 2007, but Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Nancy Ashley declared a mistrial because a confession that had been ruled inadmissable was inadvertently included in exhibits given to the jury during its deliberations.

That confession came from Mario Alberto Garcia, 22, of Modesto, who testified against his buddies as part of a plea deal that set him free.

Garcia was supposed to stay out of trouble, stay in touch with the authorities and testify again. Instead, he fled and the authorities have issued a $1 million warrant for his arrest.

"We will find him," said Deputy District Attorney Tom Brennan. "And I don't care how much crying he does, he will be charged with murder."

In the trial and in preliminary hearings, Garcia told the court that the boys felt disrespected because Norteño gang members chased them with bats the night before the shooting, smashing out the back passenger-side windows of the Blazer.

Garcia said he borrowed a rifle so his crew could fight back. They didn't have a plan, he said, but wanted to show the neighborhood who was in charge. They fled the scene and didn't know they had killed Tizoc until they came home hours later.

As he testified in November 2007, Garcia said Sureños retaliate if they are challenged, adding that gang members don't get too upset if innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.

According to Garcia, Edgar Octavio Barajas, 21, of Modesto was the shooter, and Jesus Manuel Rodriguez, 20, of Patterson was the driver. Garcia said he and Castillo and Moreno were passengers.

Barajas and Rodriguez face trial on murder and gang charges in November.

Garcia's testimony, given under a grant of immunity, cannot be used against him, Brennan said. But the confession that was ruled inadmissable, given by Garcia before Brennan offered him a testimony deal, may be used in court.

"Mario admitted to getting the gun," Brennan said.

The district attorney's office is prosecuting the defendants as adults, though they were minors at the time of the shooting.

During the first trial, defense attorneys argued the shooting was accidental. They said Barajas tried to fire into the air but lost his balance, forcing the barrel of the rifle down when Rodriguez unexpectedly accelerated.

The attorneys could not be reached for comment about the plea deals.

Tizoc was a junior at Johansen High School with a B average, and she was not a gang member. According to testimony at the first trial, the bullet that killed her went flying through the park, in broad daylight, while an after-school program run by the Police Activities League was in full swing.

Ramirez said she will continue to attend court proceedings until the long legal saga comes to an end.

"I'm still very hurt, and it will never go away," she said. "I'm repulsed when they're (the defendants) sitting there right in front of me. I won't be able to see my daughter again."

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada contributed to this report. Bee staff writer Susan Herendeen can be reached at sherendeen@modbee.com or 578-2338.