Plea deals for 2 defendants in deadly attack in north Modesto

Two defendants on Wednesday agreed to plea deals for their involvement in the 2013 shooting and stabbing of Erick Gomez in north Modesto.

Elida Carranza and Jenna Sebourn pleaded no contest to being an accessory in Gomez’s murder and admitted to an enhancement for committing the crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang. In exchange for their pleas, prosecutors agreed to a five-year sentence for each defendant.

The prosecution says Gomez, 20, was attacked by vengeful Sureño gang members hunting down any rival Norteño gang members on Feb. 14, 2013. The defense says Gomez was shot by a gunman who remains a fugitive and stabbed by a co-defendant who became a key prosecution witness.

Nine people have been indicted in connection with Gomez’s death: Carranza, Sebourn, Giovani Barocio, Nancy Rodriguez, Jeanette Robles, Dalia Mendoza, Lisandro Mendoza, Jesse James Sebourn and Michael Terrill Sebourn.

Barocio, the suspected gunman, remains a fugitive. Dalia Mendoza was prosecuted separately after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony against her co-defendants.

Robles’ mental competency has come into question; she is being prosecuted separately. Doctors at a state mental health facility say she is competent, but her defense attorney wants a jury to decide. Robles remains in custody, and the mental competency trial has not been scheduled.

A three-month trial for six of the nine defendants ended in late January, when the jurors told the judge they could not reach a unanimous verdict for any of the defendants.

A second trial in the Gomez murder case is scheduled to begin Feb. 29, but the trial likely will be delayed because of a lengthy preliminary hearing that resumes next week for Modesto attorney Frank Carson and five others accused in the death of Korey Kauffman.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff scheduled Carranza and Jenna Sebourn to return to court Dec. 17 for their sentencing hearing. It’s likely the defendants will be released from jail soon after their sentencing, because they have been in custody since the day after the shooting and will receive credit for good behavior.

Martha Carlton-Magaña, Jenna Sebourn’s attorney, asked the judge whether her client could be released Wednesday, because the agreed-upon sentence means the defendant has already served her time in jail. But Zeff denied the request and ordered both defendants to remain in jail without bail until sentencing.

Gomez was attacked when he was spotted walking in the 2400 block of Vera Cruz Drive, just east of Coffee Road.

The prosecution says that the hostility between these two rival gangs was sparked earlier that day, when Jesse Sebourn and Robles defaced the Norteño graffiti at an apartment complex on Vera Cruz. Norteños who lived there came out and beat up Jesse Sebourn and Robles.

Prosecutor Tom Brennan argued at trial that Jesse Sebourn gathered his sister, Jenna, his father, Michael, and his friends to retaliate. He told the jury that the deadly attack on Gomez was a primary example of the ongoing warfare between Sureño and Norteño gangs on the streets of Modesto.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Plea deals for 2 defendants in deadly attack in north Modesto."