OAKLAND — Two alleged members of an Oakland subset of the Norteño gang have been arrested on charges that they shot and killed two Berkeley brothers at a 2022 party, after mistaking the victims for rival gang members.
In an e-mail Thursday night inquiring about the arrests, an Oakland police spokesperson would only say two individuals were arrested Wednesday in connection with the shooting, adding that “[d]ue to the [Cesar Chavez] holiday weekend, no further information is available. We hope to provide an update early next week.”
Authorities say both suspects were 17 at the time of the shooting and were booked at juvenile hall. Their names have not been released, and detectives are expected to take the case to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office for potential filing early next week.
Brothers Jazy Sotelo Garcia, 17, and Angel Sotelo Garcia, 15, were shot and killed around 10 p.m. on Oct. 1, at a party held in an Airbnb rental home in the 900 block of Apgar Street in North Oakland. The party had about 30 attendees, most of whom were Berkeley High students. Two others were injured but survived.
Then-Oakland police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said at the time the case was not gang-related, but now authorities are disputing that, saying that the alleged shooters mistook at least one of the four victims for a rival gang member.
The arrests now pose the question of — if prosecutors determine that there’s enough evidence to charge one or both of the teens — whether they’ll be charged in adult or juvenile court. New District Attorney Pamela Price won with 53 percent of the vote in a 2022 election where she pledged not to charge minors in adult court. The penalties for murder are wildly different in juvenile court, which does not allow for prison sentences beyond a defendant’s mid-twenties.
Authorities say that within days of the shooting, both teens had been identified by police as possible suspects, but investigators lacked evidence to make an arrest. Many of the party attendees were afraid to give statements to police, authorities say.
One of the suspects was identified by police as the driver in an Oct. 10 police chase in Oakland involving a stolen car. He was arrested that night on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle hidden in a guitar case and evading police.
Two days later, police were conducting surveillance on the second suspect when they arrested him and 18-year-old Jesse Moreno — a suspected passenger in the Oct. 10 chase — on suspicion of gun possession. Moreno remains jailed on gun possession, evading police and robbery charges, in lieu of $80,000 bail.
Authorities allege that Moreno belongs to the same Norteño subset as the two teen murder suspects and that several members of the gang were also present for a January mass shooting at a music video shoot in Oakland, for the Stockton rapper Acito. One person was killed and eight were injured, after alleged members of a rival Sureño subset happened by the video shoot and opened fire, causing at least one person in the crowd to shoot back.
Staff writer George Kelly contributed to this report.
Source: www.mercurynews.com