Trial set for car-to-car shooting suspects

Defendants reject plea deals

The jury trial of three men charged in a May car-to-car shooting that left a man dead was set for April in Yuba County Superior Court.

Vivion Wallace, 22, and Avery Sanchez, 21, the two men suspected of killing 36-year-old Alejandro Escobar, of Sacramento, in Marysville on May 22, appeared in court Monday. The third suspect, Juan Barajas, 19, charged with being an accessory to the alleged shooting – driving the vehicle that carried Wallace and Sanchez – was not in court Monday but was represented by his attorney.

It is alleged that after an earlier altercation between the occupants of two cars, Sanchez and Wallace shot and killed Escobar and injured another victim who was treated for minor injuries and released, according to Appeal-democrat records.

The three men were arrested on May 27 and Barajas pleaded not guilty in June and was released after posting $100,000 bail. Wallace and Sanchez remain in

Yuba County Jail with no bail.

Yuba County Chief Deputy District Attorney Shiloh Sorbello told the court that the district attorney’s office had offered a plea deal to Wallace and Sanchez that they had rejected. The deal would have meant sentences of 52 years to life for the

two suspected gunmen. According to Sorbello, if found guilty, the two men now face the possibility of life in prison without parole when their three felony counts and numerous enhancements and allegations are taken into account.

Barajas’ attorney did not go on the record as to whether his client had been offered a plea deal by the

district attorney’s office. Back in November, Sorbello said a different plea deal had been extended to Barajas. Sorbello could not be reached for comment on Monday to confirm if that had taken place.

With plea deals rejected, a jury trial is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. April 21, 2020, in Yuba County Superior Court.