Gilroy
– Juan Miguel Trigueros had two flat tires, but needed to get
back to his home in Soledad. So about 2am on May 19, 2001, after
attending electrician training and grabbing some drinks, he picked
up a pay phone outside the 7-Eleven on Leavesley Road and Murray
Avenue.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Juan Miguel Trigueros had two flat tires, but needed to get back to his home in Soledad. So about 2am on May 19, 2001, after attending electrician training and grabbing some drinks, he picked up a pay phone outside the 7-Eleven on Leavesley Road and Murray Avenue.
Trigueros, 24, heard someone shouting in his direction and turned to look. A young man with a buzz cut, wearing a light-colored shirt and tan shorts, was approaching, perhaps challenging Trigueros to a fight. Instead, Trigueros turned away, toward the pay phone, trying to mind his own business.
That’s when his killer pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot him twice from behind, at close range. Trigueros stumbled into the store, where he collapsed on the floor and died.
Monday afternoon, Paul Zapata, Trigueros’ convicted killer, learned he will spend at least the next 57 years in prison. After that, he will be eligible for parole, although first-degree murderers are rarely granted the privilege. As Sheriff’s deputies led Zapata – wearing a red jail jumpsuit with hands shackled at his waist – into a San Martin courtroom, he knew he was facing a mandatory sentence of 50 years to life.
Leticia Trigueros, 22, Trigueros’ sister, said in a phone call from Southern California Monday evening her family was relieved to hear that Zapata will likely be in jail for the rest of his life. The family celebrated Trigueros’ mother’s birthday Monday.
“We’re happy, but nothing can bring my brother back,” she said. “(Zapata) got what he deserved, but we’re still not satisfied because my brother’s gone.”
Deputy District Attorney Stuart Scott and Gilroy Police Department Detective Dan Zen found it a fitting end to what was a long-unsolved gang-related killing of Trigueros, that was based solely on his appearance.
“He had no criminal history in this county or in his own county (Monterey), he had no ties to gangs,” Scott said.
What he did have was a Kobe Bryant jersey, which he was wearing the night he was killed. That, Scott said, is why Zapata – a known Norteño gang member – killed him. The bluish color of the jersey set off Zapata because it represented his gang rivals, Scott said.
“They were in that location, they see Juan Trigueros and presume him to be an Eighth Street Sureño on their turf, and they execute him,” Scott said.
Zapata, 23, stood before Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero and showed no emotion as his sentence for conviction of murder, using a firearm causing death and committing a crime to benefit a gang.
Trigueros’ family members were not in court Monday, because they have moved and could not make the trip. But his mother, father, sister and brother were present two weeks ago, when Zapata’s sentencing was supposed to take place.
Given the chance to make a statement for the record at that time, Leticia Trigueros stood and walked to a microphone facing Judge Shapero and, to her left, Zapata. Earlier on the day of his death, Trigueros had dropped Leticia off at a Salinas community college and she was the last of her family to see him alive.
Emotion overcame Trigueros as she tried to talk about the man who killed her brother. In the audience, Trigueros’ parents and brother sat together with their arms around each other, cried and wiped their eyes. Leticia crossed her arms and tried to regain her composure but was unable to, and sat down again.
Later, she thanked Scott and Detective Zen, who oversaw the investigation when many breaks were made in the once-cold case. She repeated those sentiments Monday.
“I just appreciate them so much,” Leticia Trigueros said. “(Zapata) killed all of us. We had so many dreams and he killed the dreams for all of us.”
Her brother had earned his high school diploma after the family moved to California from Mexico in 1998. He returned to school for more training because he wanted a better life, she said.
“He was just a person who wanted to be someone in life,” she said. “For somebody to come and do this to him …”
Scott conveyed the Trigueros’ appreciation to Judge Shapero and the court Monday afternoon.
Before announcing Zapata’s impending jail time and $10,000 restitution to the victim, Shapero admonished Zapata for his “horrific” actions.
“You’re convicted in taking the life of a truly innocent person whose only fault was: A, Being in the wrong place. And B, Sporting clothing that he had no way of knowing carried that weight in that community, in your community,” Shapero said.
Trigueros’ family, will carry the knowledge that Zapata took Trigueros’ life without cause, Shapero said.
John Vaughn, Zapata’s public defender, did not return a call seeking comment.
Zapata, formerly of Hollister, will likely go to San Quentin State Prison in two weeks. Vaughn requested the extra time so some elderly members of his family can visit him, possibly for the last time.
Zapata’s sentencing is the final chapter in the investigation and prosecution that gained momentum two years ago. From the time of the killing until spring 2003, police had few leads, if any. They had no weapon and knew only that Zapata had driven from the scene in a white pick-up or sport utility vehicle.
“I thought that they were not going to find him,” Leticia Trigueros said.
Eventually, anonymous tips led police in the right direction. Gang members who had fallen out or former girlfriends of gang members, started cooperating.
“You just talk to as many people as you can,” said Detective Zen. “When somebody’s in custody, you start talking to them.”
During Zapata’s trial, another gang member testified, who had been recorded during a jail phone call as he talked about getting rid of the getaway truck.
Police found the pick-up, registered to Zapata’s grandmother, secreted away in Zapata’s former girlfriend’s Morgan Hill garage, Scott said.
Zapata was arrested for the killing in April 2003, when he was already serving time in San Quentin for another gang-related assault in Gilroy.
