Turlock men plead guilty in death of a grandfather they beat, ran over with a car
Two Turlock men who who beat a Modesto grandfather and then ran him over several times with a car pleaded guilty Monday to causing his death.
The incident occurred around 1:25 a.m. April 15, 2018, near First and D streets in Turlock.
According to a press release from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, defendants Jose Alonso Gutierrez Jr., 22, and Bailey Martin Sanchez, 24, were involved in an argument with the victim, 56-year-old Jack Keener.
The argument turned into a fistfight that continued into a nearby field, where Sanchez beat Keener to the ground. Gutierrez then drove his car over Keener multiple times, killing him.
Gutierrez was captured on surveillance video driving himself and Sanchez away from the scene but returning after going around the block so that Sanchez could steal Keener’s car, which had been parked across the street.
In Stanislaus Superior Court on Monday, Gutierrez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and Sanchez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and auto theft.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my dad and what they did to him,” Keener’s oldest daughter, Julie Lundquist, said during victim impact statements before the defendants were sentenced. She said she has to live with the knowledge of the savage way her father was killed and thinks about him “laying there in unbelievable pain and dying.”
“I didn’t get to say goodbye or tell him that I love him and that I will always be his little girl,” she said. “I will never get to give him a hug and tell him how much he means to me and what he has taught us … that I am blessed he was my dad. I can’t call him and ask his advice to talk to him or to ask him how to make this delicious dish that I can never remember how to make and never wrote down.”
Lundquist talked about going fishing with Keener and how he would always bait her hook because she couldn’t stand the smell. She spoke of him teaching her children how to skip rocks and play baseball and lamented the future memories they have been robbed of.
She and her younger sister both spoke of the comfort their father gave them.
Keener’s youngest daughter, Rebecca Santos, said he would read her books in the middle of the night when she had bad dreams.
Santos said if that didn’t work, she would sneak into her parents’ bedroom. Her mom would tell her to go back to her bed, but Keener would “scoot over and hide me at his side. That is the safest place I could ever be. And I don’t feel that anymore. Not since (his death).”
Gutierrez also made a statement before he and his co-defendant were sentenced.
“I take full responsibility for the severe pain and sorrow that I caused them and know words ... can’t make up for what I have done,” he said. “My hope is that you can all have closure and move onto the next chapter of your lives knowing that I sincerely apologize and take full responsibility for the death of Jack Keener.”
Judge Shawn Bessey told Gutierrez he appreciated that he took some responsibility by pleading guilty to the murder but added, “Keep in mind that there is no closure when it comes to the loss of a family member, loss of a father, loss of a buddy, a fishing partner and someone that is as caring as Mr. Keener was to his family.”
Gutierrez was originally charged with first-degree murder but the District Attorney’s Office struck the allegation of premeditation after his plea. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Sanchez was sentenced to six years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge plus an additional eight months for the auto theft.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 1:22 PM.
