3 men plead guilty to 2019 gang-related killing of Arroyo Grande man
Three men pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and manslaughter in the 2019 killing of an Arroyo Grande man in Oceano, the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
Daniel Fuentes, 41, was shot and killed in Oceano on April 2, 2019, after a vehicle driven by Nathaniel Jara, 24, came upon Fuentes while he was riding his bike.
Jara and two other men — brothers Robert Garay, 30, and Gabriel Garay, 23 — exited the car. Robert Garay fired a handgun at Fuentes, shooting him twice in the back.
After being shot, Fuentes knocked on a neighbor’s door in the 2200 block of Beach Street and told the residents he had been shot, before collapsing inside the home.
Fuentes was allegedly targeted by the trio because of a long-standing “beef” over a runaway family member, according to courtroom testimony.
Murder and manslaughter pleas
Robert Garay pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and active participation in a criminal street gang. He has a 2010 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, which counted as a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes sentencing law, and it is anticipated he will be sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison, the release said.
Gabriel Garay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and active participation in a criminal street gang. He also has a “strike” from a 2015 conviction for assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury. It is anticipated that he will be sentenced to 13 years and four months in state prison.
Jara also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and active participation in a criminal street gang. Also having a “strike” because of a 2018 conviction for possession for sale of a controlled substance for the benefit of a criminal street gang, he is anticipated to be sentenced to 13 years and four months in state prison.
The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Bittner.
Sentencing for the three is scheduled for April 20 at 8:30 a.m. in the San Luis Obispo Superior Court with Judge Jacquelyn Duffy presiding.
Evidence of killing presented at preliminary hearing
At a preliminary hearing in September 2020, San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s Det. Chad Guiton said he had reviewed text messages from Fuentes’ phone that indicated Fuentes and his family were concerned that a female family member was hanging out with the Garay brothers.
“This is a long-ass thing that’s been going on between us and someone’s going to get hurt,” Fuentes wrote in a text, according to Guiton. Guiton said Fuentes was not a gang member.
Tensions mounted until April 2, the day before the shooting, when texts show that a family member of Fuentes reached out to a mutual friend who was also friends with the Garays, telling the person to “leave Daniel out of it.” According to Guiton, that person said it was already too late and that Fuentes “had trouble with his homeboys already.”
About 30 minutes after the shooting, online records for Jara showed that he messaged a friend, saying he needed to get out of the Five Cities area as soon as possible, Guiton said.
In the two days following the shooting, search data retrieved from Garay’s Google account shows he searched for the terms “Oceano homicide” roughly 20 times, Guiton testified.
Deputy District Attorney Danielle Baker presented the court with surveillance photographs appearing to show Robert Garay at a Grover Beach liquor store in a gray long-sleeved shirt shortly after the killing, less than two miles from where Fuentes was shot.
About a week after the shooting, a Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped a vehicle with all three defendants inside. The gray shirt Robert Garay appeared to be wearing in the liquor store was also found in the car and tested for gunshot residue.
Two residue particles were found on the shirt, and a cigarette butt found at the scene of the shooting showed “strong evidence” of a DNA match to Robert Garay, Guiton testified.
Former Tribune reporter Matt Fountain contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 6:19 PM.
