Man found guilty in security officer shooting, murder in Salinas California
Salinas CA Sept 23 2019 A man suspected of starting a deadly shootout at a quinceañera in Salinas last year was found guilty of all charges Friday.
Angel Fabian Iniguez, 26, faced charges of murder and attempted murder in relation to the shooting that left a 19-year-old shot in the head last year.
In court Friday, he was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm, all with firearm enhancements. In addition, he was found guilty of possessing a firearm as a felon and admitted a prior juvenile strike for a San Benito County robbery.
Iniguez faces more than 100 years in prison, Monterey County Deputy District Attorney James Laughlin said.
On May 26, 2018, about 300 people attended a quinceañera in the 300 block of San Juan Road.
Giovanni Solis, 21, arrived at the party with beer, but since he was underage at the time, security guards at the party confiscated it. However, Solis and his friends then drank at the party’s open bar, Det. Michael Smith previously testified in the case.
Later that evening, Solis and friends got into a fight with the security guards who pepper-sprayed them and kicked them out.
A short while later, Iniguez came to the party and spoke to Solis, Smith said.
Iniguez then drove halfway down the driveway towards the party and opened fire on the security guards. One guard was shot in his buttocks and another bullet ripped through his arm, Deputy Rodrigo Lopez testified. Security guards returned fire.
Iniguez’s passenger and “best friend” Josiah Marquez, 19, was shot in the head. Police later found Marquez in a parked car on Towt Street around shortly before midnight. He was taken to Natividad where he later died.
Iniguez’s parents Esmeralda Vasquez Iniguez and Fabian Cassillas Iniguez had met up with their son shortly after the shooting, according to testimony last week.
Fabian Iniguez took Marquez out of the pickup and put him in the Cadillac Marquez had driven and left at Angel Iniguez’s home, Laughlin told the jury.
Fabian Iniguez feared taking a grievously wounded Marquez to the hospital would get him in trouble because, in addition to his years-old criminal record, “he doesn’t have papers,” said Angel Iniguez’s aunt Maria Iniguez.
Maria Iniguez is charged with being an accessory after-the-fact, court documents show while Esmeralda and Fabian Iniguez are charged with kidnapping for allegedly putting the wounded Marquez in his Cadillac and leaving him in Salinas.
Fabian Iniguez left Marquez in the Cadillac, which belonged to his mother. They went to the CVS on South Main Street to make an anonymous phone call reporting Marquez’s location.
Solis’ separate trial for murder and assault charges is pending.
Angel Iniguez is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19.
The Californian
