Prison terms for coach's killers

Two stabbed local stalwart over ID confiscation at bar

Two of the three men convicted in the fatal 2017 stabbing of former Eastridge Little League president Frank Navarro were sentenced to prison Friday, concluding a case that devastated an East San Jose community who watched Navarro grow up with the league and go on to mentor scores of youths.

Joseph Esquivel, 33, and Aaron Vallejo, 30, appeared in a San Jose courtroom, where Judge David Cena sentenced Esquivel to 15 years to life in prison and Vallejo to 31 years to life in prison. The judge said Vallejo's sentence was double that of Esquivel and co-defendant Santos Trevino — who was sentenced in April — because of a past robbery conviction.

As he did in sentencing Trevino to 16 years to life in prison April 29, Cena on Friday acknowledged the limited comfort any sentence could bring to Navarro's loved ones.

“This court is powerless to bring back Frank Navarro to his family and friends,” Cena said shortly before announcing the sentences. He called Navarro an “extraordinary individual who dedicated his life and time to the East San Jose Little League.”

Navarro was well-known in his community as an Overfelt High School alum who at the time of his death was president of the Eastridge Little League, where he was coached as a youth by his grandfather.

After the sentencing, Marlene Salazar, a close family friend of Navarro, released a statement on behalf of Regina Delgado, Navarro's mother, her husband, Robert Delgado, and Navarro's family.

“Although nothing will bring back Frank Navarro and his irreplaceable presence in the lives of his family, friends and the entire community, we are relieved that this chapter is finally over and grateful to the district attorney and his assistant on all the hard work they put into this case,” the statement reads. “No sentence would ever be long enough, we are glad that Joseph Esquivel, Aaron Vallejo and Santos Trevino each received life sentences and will be off the streets of the community Frank worked so hard to change and protect.”

“We thank God this is over,” the statement adds. “Now our son will be able to rest in peace.”

Trevino, Esquivel and Vallejo were convicted by a jury in October of seconddegree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in the killing of Navarro, who was fatally stabbed over a confiscated driver's license while working as a security guard at a downtown bar. They were also found guilty of assaulting another security guard who Navarro was helping.

The jury rejected standalone gang charges and gang enhancements filed against the defendants, which their attorneys characterized as an instance of overcharging their clients because of their backgrounds.

A fourth murder defendant was acquitted after arguing he was a peacemaker during the fateful confrontation. Two other defendants who were with the group, but not considered central to the stabbing, previously pleaded to assault with a deadly weapon and other related charges.

According to authorities, on the night of Feb. 26, 2017, Joseph Esquivel, Santos Trevino's brother, and Esquivel's sister tried to get into Tres Gringos Cabo Cantina on Second Street. Esquivel used makeup to conceal a face tattoo that would have violated the bar's admittance policy, and presented Trevino's driver's license to a security guard at the door.

The security guard confiscated the license after deciding it was being fraudulently used, and refused to return it. The pair called their friends and eventually a red Buick pulled up carrying four men, including Trevino and Vallejo.

Trevino and the others walked up to the security guard who had his ID, threatened him, and tried to reach into the guard's pockets, sparking a physical struggle. Navarro, the security manager, tried to intervene, and at some point Trevino reportedly pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Navarro in the body and neck.

With Navarro mortally wounded, Vallejo got back into the car and fled with another man, while the others ran away. Vallejo was arrested that night a few miles away in West San Jose. A few days later, Trevino was located in Rocklin, outside Sacramento, and was arrested soon after Esquivel.

During trial, one of the primary arguments made by the defendants was that they did not approach Navarro and his employee with the intent to harm anyone, but only to retrieve Trevino's ID card.

Esquivel's public defender declined to comment on Friday's sentence. Vallejo's attorney with the county alternate defender's office did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

Lance Daugherty, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case since its inception, said he got to know “what an amazing person Frank was, and the supportive family he has,” noting that Navarro's family and friends regularly attended court hearings throughout for the past five years.

“I hope for their sake, this gives them some kind of closure,” he said, “so they can be able to focus on Frank's life instead of how he died.”