Defendants sentenced in deadly botched carjacking in Riverbank

Michelle Bettencourt on Monday vowed to attend every parole hearing for the two young men convicted of murder in her son’s shooting death.

“I will now be the nightmare to haunt your lives like you haunted mine,” she told the defendants shortly before they were sentenced. Her son, 21-year-old Chaz Bettencourt, was shot during a botched robbery outside a Riverbank convenience store about five years ago.

Turlock Diaz, 19, and Daniel Pantoja, 23, were found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted carjacking for their roles in the deadly shooting. The prosecution argued that Diaz shot Bettencourt when he refused to comply with the defendants’ robbery demands.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Scott Steffen sentenced Diaz to 52 years six months to life in prison, and Pantoja was sentenced 27 years six months to life in prison.

Bettencourt’s mother and a few other family members spoke in court before the defendants were sentenced. She called the aftermath of her son’s murder a “mother’s worst nightmare.”

She said she sometimes wonders how scared her son was when Diaz pulled the trigger, and she still cries herself to sleep at times. She told the defendants they didn’t think about the innocent lives they would harm, all for car keys and a $10 bill.

Martin Baker, Diaz’s attorney, told the judge his client said he is “truly sorry for the family’s loss.” The defendants answered routine questions from the judge during the hearing, but they didn’t say much else in the courtroom Monday morning.

A third defendant, Jah-Kari Phyall, was acquitted of the same charges in the deadly shooting in front of the AM-PM mini-mart at Patterson and Oakdale roads. The jurors determined Phyall, who was with Diaz and Pantoja during the attempted carjacking, was not responsible for the crimes.

Diaz and Phyall were minors at the time of the shooting but were prosecuted as adults. Diaz was 14 years old; Phyall, 15; and Pantoja, 18. The defendants stood trial together, but two juries listened to testimony and rendered separate verdicts.

Craig Bettencourt, the victim’s father, told the judge the defendants had not shown any remorse. He said his son was a nice young man minding his own business that night.

“He didn’t deserve what he got,” Bettencourt said while looking at the defendants a few feet away from him. “It was a punk act.”

About 12:40 a.m. Aug. 5, 2010, Bettencourt and friend David Gomez were leaving the mini-mart when they were accosted at gunpoint. Authorities said the defendants were trying to steal Gomez’s car when Bettencourt was shot.

Gomez testified that Phyall tried to stop him from escaping into the convenience store moments before he got inside and Bettencourt was shot in the parking lot.

Phyall testified that he went with Diaz and Pantoja to Riverbank that day to attend a party. Pantoja and Diaz did not testify in the trial, which lasted nearly two months.

Phyall said Pantoja initially had the gun and used it to rob an ice cream vendor several hours before the attempted carjacking. He said Pantoja later suggested they rob two elderly women, but the two other defendants refused. Pantoja later handed the gun to Diaz, who showed interest in the loaded weapon, Phyall said.

Robert Winston, Pantoja’s attorney, told the judge the shooting death was not what the three had planned that night. The defense attorney argued at trial that the store security camera footage shows his client at the shooting scene, but that he wasn’t seen doing anything else.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Brennan argued that Pantoja played a major role in the killing. “He is public enemy No. 1 right now before sentencing,” the prosecutor told the judge.

Martin Baker, Diaz’s attorney, reminded the judge that his client was 14 and heavily intoxicated when the shooting occurred. He argued at trial that Diaz was under the influence of a canned drink, a potent mixture of alcohol and energy stimulants, that could have resulted in “increased impulsivity” the night of the shooting.

The prosecutor argued at trial that Diaz shot Bettencourt twice in the chest at close range. Monday, he called Bettencourt’s slaying a “videotaped execution.” He said Diaz was “nothing short of a natural born killer.”

The jurors saw the store’s security camera footage throughout the trial. The video shows the shooter aiming the gun at the back of Gomez’s head as Gomez walks out of the store.

Brennan argued that Diaz then ordered Gomez to give him his keys. Phyall testified that Diaz shot Bettencourt moments after the victim flung cash at Diaz.

The prosecutor told the jurors that Bettencourt staggered for about 20 yards before he collapsed. One of the bullets ripped through his heart and lungs.

Shirley Bettencourt, the victim’s grandmother, said she will never forgive the defendants for what they did to her grandson. “And he mattered in all our lives, you remember that,” she emphatically told Diaz and Pantoja.

Kevin Bettencourt, the victim’s uncle, also promised to attend every parole hearing to ensure the parole board keeps the defendants behind bars. He said a crime spree led to the shooting, and that it was not a random act of violence.

“It caused pain that I had never experienced,” he told the judge about his nephew’s murder. “There is no closure.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Defendants sentenced in deadly botched carjacking in Riverbank."