Court dates reset for 22-year-old gang member accused of murder

A Solano County Superior Court judge has rescheduled proceedings, including a change-of-plea hearing, in the case of a 22-year-old Vallejo gang member accused of firstdegree murder in 2015 in Vallejo.

Jose Alberto Gonzalez, who made a court appearance Feb. 6, is set to return March 5 for the hearing, a readiness conference and trial setting.

It is unclear whether Gonzalez, who has pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, will enter a plea to the main charge or a reduced charge during the scheduled proceedings in Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman’s courtroom.

Gonzalez was a juvenile when he and three other members of the Brown Brotherhood, a subset of the Sureno criminal street gang, were loitering under a bridge in an area rife with gang-related graffiti on Aug. 13, 2015.

The victim, James Souza, 46, was walking along train tracks underneath the bridge when he was allegedly confronted by Gonzalez and one of the other gang members, according to the Solano County District Attorney. Gonzalez and his co-defendant reportedly were armed with handguns.

During the confrontation, Gonzalez reportedly asked him, “Do you bang?” Moments later, Gonzalez and the co-defendant allegedly fired their weapons at the victim, striking him at least nine times. Souza died at the scene.

Vallejo police officers arrested Gonzalez two months later. He has pleaded not guilty to firstdegree murder, gun and gang-related charges. He was booked into Solano County Jail, with bail set at $5 million.

Among his co-defendants is Audel Gomez, who apparently has pleaded to a felony related to the case. He faces a setting and sentencing at 8:30 a.m. March 16.

Charges against Enrique Hector Pearce,were dismissed on July 17, 2017. Information about a third codefendant, Marcos Gutierrez Casas, was not available.

In May 2018, a Solano County Superior Court judge ruled that Gonzalez’s case would be transferred from juvenile to adult criminal court.

Gonzalez previously faced a trial management conference on Feb. 6, then a jury trial on Feb. 19, but those proceedings appear to have been superseded by the change-of-plea hearing. He is represented by Fairfield criminal defense attorney Denis Honeychurch.

If found guilty of all the charges, Gonzalez may be sentenced to as much as 60 years to life in state prison.