Tolentino murder trial rescheduled for Feb. 15
BRAWLEY – Eduardo Tolentino will stand trial Feb. 15 for a 2018 shooting here that left one dead and one hospitalized, a judge ruled Monday.
Tolentino, 31, of Brawley, was arrested as the prime suspect in the shooting, which occurred May 30, 2018, at a gas station in the 900 block of Main Street and left Daniel Hernandez Jr., 24, of Brawley, dead.
Hernandez was inside a parked vehicle at the gas station when he was fatally shot.
FTolentino faces one count of murder, one count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle, and one count of willful harm or injury to a child.
The willful child endangerment charge stems from a 17-year-old individual having been in the vehicle at the time of the alleged shooting and sustaining a slight wound, the county District Attorney’s Office previously reported.
On Monday, Tolentino appeared at the courthouse in El Centro for a readiness conference, as Tuesday was his scheduled trial date.
However, Tolentino’s attorney, Steve Honse, filed a motion for continuance which Judge Brooks Anderholt heard Monday
Honse requested the continuance on grounds his investigator has recently come across a discovery that may “change the theory of the case.”
Honse said he believes he can prove Hernandez, as well as the 17-year-old victim, had gang affiliation.
“It didn’t just start at the gas station,” Honse said of the case.
The attorney is also still deciding how to deal with one particular piece evidence: A video that captured the shooting.
“It’s a tough case,” Honse told Anderholt.
Prosecuting attorney Heather Trapnell affirmed Monday there will be no disposition offered
by the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office for the case.
Trapnell, nevertheless, did not oppose Honse’s continuance motion.
“My experience with him is that he will be (ready),” Trapnell said of her counterpart.
Tolentino is now scheduled for a readiness conference on Feb. 14, and trial on Feb. 15 before Judge William Quan at the courthouse in El Centro.
To list your home contact In an IVP interview Classifieds with at this newspaper in June 2020, Llarissa Hernandez, Daniel’s cousin, shared that she and Daniel’s family wanted to dispel the myth that Daniel Hernandez’s death was gang-related.
“He had nothing to do with gangs,” Llarissa said at the time. “If you Google his name, a lot of what comes up is gang violence, and I never want him to be portrayed like that.”