Have a great day, James Olson

Check out what’s going on in your neighborhood, the community on Friday.

A jury trial is underway in Solano County Superior Court for a 23-year-old man, who is believed to be a member of a Vallejo criminal street gang and accused of a 2015 first-degree murder in Vallejo.

Jose Alberto Gonzalez appeared Wednesday in Department 15 at the outset of the trial in the Justice Building in Vallejo.

Court records did not indicate Wednesday if jury selection process has begun, but the trial resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday in Judge Robert Bowers’ courtroom.

Audel Gomez, 21, who was linked to the crime as an accessory and has pleaded to the charge, will be sentenced for the felony at trial’s end, his attorney, Leslie Prince, told The Reporter earlier in the week.

Gomez, who is not in custody but previously served time in connection to the crime, faces a maximum of three years in prison and will testify at the trial.

David Nelson represents Gonzalez, who has replaced criminal defense attorney Laura Petty.

Gonzalez had, at one point, been scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing but those proceedings do not appear to be in effect, according to court records in the case.

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

The victim, James Souza, 46, was walking along train tracks underneath the bridge when he was allegedly confronted by Gonzalez and another suspected gang member, according to the Solano County District Attorney. Gonzalez and a co-defendant were armed with handguns, according to court records.

During the confrontation, Gonzalez reportedly asked Souza, “Do you bang?” Moments later, Gonzalez and the other gang member 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 was booked into Solano County Jail, with bail set at $5 million. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, gun, and gang-related charges.

Charges against Enrique Hector Pearce, initially a co-defendant in the case, were dismissed on July 17, 2017. Information about another co-defendant, 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.

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