Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Testimony begins in murder trial
Defendant driving car during drive-by shooting, police say
FAYETTEVILLE — Testimony began Wednesday in the murder trial of Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez, who police say was driving the car during a fatal drive-by shooting in Springdale three years ago.
Three men were standing near a car on Savage Street in Springdale in April 2015 when four men in a blue Ford Focus pulled up and demanded to know their gang affiliations. One of the three said he was in a gang, and one of the people in the car opened fire killing Jimmy Rodriguez, 20.
Vasquez-Sanchez, 21, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to the unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. Vasquez-Sanchez was three days shy of his 18th birthday when the shooting occurred and is charged as an adult.
Prosecutors waived the death penalty because of Vasquez-Sanchez’ age at the time of shooting. He faces life in prison if convicted of capital murder. Unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle is a felony punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
Rodolfo Alberto Martinez, the gunman, was
convicted in August 2017 of capital murder, two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of committing a terroristic act. Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Erwin Davis, attorney for Vasquez-Sanchez, told jurors in his opening statement his client didn’t know there was going to be shooting. Davis also said the shooting was not gang related.
“These guys weren’t getting along all that great but, no, this wasn’t a drive- by shooting. That wasn’t their purpose for being there . It was four guys hanging out,” Davis said. “The so-called gangs are not gangs in the Chicago and New York sense. These are guys that just hang out together. We just don’t have a gang problem here.”
Davis called the groups involved “boy gangs.”
“They call themselves gangs maybe, but then they go and toilet paper somebody’s house or they confront another gang and there’s shouting back and forth, a confrontation,” Davis said. “But very, very, very seldom is there any violence and in this case there is no testimony that the other three occupants of the car knew what was about to happen. They were just hanging out.”
Detective Freddie Villeda told jurors everyone involved in the shooting and its aftermath were members of or affiliated with gangs and all the information police received pointed to the shooting being gang-related.
Villeda said Springdale has had gang-related driveby shootings, stabbings, fights and other significant violence between gangs.
Villeda said Jimmy Rodriguez wasn’t the target that day. Matt Durrett, prosecutor, said in a previous
trial the four in the car were looking to retaliate against Pascual Carbajal for an earlier incident.
Vasquez- Sanchez was identified by Eric Rodriguez, Jimmy’s cousin, as being the driver of the car. Eric Rodriguez said Wednesday he took cover when the shooting started.
Viviana Romero, the girlfriend of one of the teens in the car, told jurors Vasquez- Sanchez came to her home twice in the blue car the morning of the shooting, once before and then afterward, with Martinez to get rid of the gun used in the shooting and to ditch the car. She said Vasquez- Sanchez and Martinez were nervous and talked about having shot Jimmy Rodriguez.
Jose Andrew Delatorre, a passenger in the car, pleaded guilty in September 2017 to accomplice to second-degree murder. Delatorre was sentenced to 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Martinez and Delatorre were 21 when they were convicted.
The other passenger in the car was a 13-year-old juvenile. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and court proceedings.