BANNING (CNS) – Retrial proceedings are scheduled to begin today in
the murder trial of two men accused of severely beating and ultimately gunning
down a 36-year-old Hemet man.
Alberto Franco, 27, of Hemet and Christian Anselmo Gomez, 46, of
Homeland are accused in the 2020 slaying of Salvador Alvarez Cortez.
Both defendants are charged with first-degree murder, assault
resulting in great bodily injury and attempted kidnapping, as well as sentence-
enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Franco is additionally
charged with attempted carjacking.
The men were on trial in August when Gomez’s attorney became ill and
was unable to continue, prompting Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark
Singerton to declare a mistrial and dismiss the jury.
A new panel must be selected for the retrial.
Each defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd
Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to the prosecution, Franco and Gomez allegedly targeted
Cortez because he had stolen property from Gomez, and the defendant wanted
revenge, with Franco’s help.
On the evening of Nov. 2, 2020, the pair found the victim at a
residence adjacent to a strip mall in the 200 block of Stetson Avenue, near
Magnolia Circle, and cornered him inside the garage.
Prosecutors allege that Franco and Gomez pummeled the victim with
metal pipes until he was able to escape, running to the mall, where he
collapsed in front of a Mexican restaurant.
Customers and employees came out to check on Cortez, whom one witness
described as “having his head caved in” from the beating, according to the
prosecution’s trial brief.
As the witnesses began calling 911, the defendants allegedly drove
into the parking lot in Franco’s Dodge Durango and confronted the victim again,
with Gomez emerging from the SUV armed with an AR-15 rifle, the brief said.
People took refuge in the restaurant, as well as in their vehicles.
“The defendants then tried to grab the victim and pull him towards
the Durango, which he fought,” according to court papers. “Two separate
cellphone videos captured the next events. As Franco was pulling and fighting
with the victim to get into the car, Gomez shot him. He fell to the ground,
screaming in pain, and Gomez continued to fire shots into him, a total of 15
times.”
Cortez died at the scene.
The defendants left the location in the SUV, and a witness gave chase,
trailing them until they stopped in the middle of the street, and Franco
allegedly leveled the AR-15 at him, at which point the man sped away,
prosecutors said.
According to Hemet Police Department Lt. Nathan Miller, Franco lost
control of the Durango moments later and slammed into a brick feature outside a
residence in the 1400 block of South Palm Avenue, causing the SUV’s engine to
fail. The defendants ran away southbound.
Patrol officers began a search for the pair, which ended in the
predawn hours the following day, when both were located hiding on Coral Avenue,
where they were taken into custody without incident.
Neither defendant has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside
County. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.
