Father, Son To Stand Trial For Gruesome Oakland Double Murder
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A judge Wednesday ordered a father and son to stand trial on two counts of murder and one count of premeditated attempted murder for a gruesome shooting and fire in East Oakland two years ago that left two men dead and a third man badly injured.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson said the evidence in the preliminary hearing for Francisco Jesus Hernandez Sr., 39, and his son, Francisco Hernandez Jr., 19, indicates that they got upset when victims Juan Ramos, Alfonso Ibanez Jr., and Miguel Cruz were doing donuts in a pickup truck in the 9900 block of Empire Road at about 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2016.
Jacobson said the father and son left the group of people they were hanging out with, retrieved guns from their car and set out to kill the three men.
The judge said, "It's clear that Hernandez Sr. intended to murder" because he shot Ramos seven or eight times in the area of his head and shot Ibanez twice in the neck and head.
Jacobson said Hernandez Jr. then shot Cruz in the face, arm, chest and hand and the father and son poured gasoline on the truck he was in and set it on fire.
However, Cruz was able to get out of the truck, put out the fire and get help. He identified the father and son as his assailants when he testified against them last Friday.
A man who lived across the street from the area where the shooting and fire occurred tearfully testified, "I felt sorry for him (Cruz) because he was burning and we wanted to help him."
But the man said he didn't go outside to help Cruz "because I was afraid for myself and my kids."
The man said Hernandez Sr. often hung out in the neighborhood and was "very intimidating" and he thought Hernandez Sr. was a gang member because he often offered to sell him tires and other items.
Jacobson said that even though Hernandez Jr. didn't shoot Ramos and Cruz he should still stand trial on two murder counts for their deaths because he was an active participant in their shootings and knew of his father's intent to kill them.
Jacobson said the fact that the father and son also intended to kill Cruz was made clear by evidence that they pulled him out of the pickup truck, pistol-whipped him and poured gasoline on him and set him on fire.
The judge noted that Cruz testified that a third man who was with the father and son told them to leave Cruz alone because he didn't have anything to do with their beef against Ramos and Ibanez but Hernandez Sr. replied, "He (Cruz) came with the others, he's going to go with the others."
Jacobson also ordered the father and son to stand trial on the special circumstance of committing multiple murders.
About a dozen family members of Ramos and Ibanez attended the hearing for the father and son.
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