Lea este artículo en español aquí.
A jury has found Hollister resident Jose Valdez not guilty of murder in the February 2024 shooting of Efrain Amezcua at Hillcrest Car & RV Wash on Hillcrest Road.
In the Aug. 29 verdict, Valdez was also cleared of voluntary manslaughter charges but found guilty of illegally carrying a concealed firearm. He was sentenced to 364 days in county jail but released because of the credited days he spent in jail awaiting trial.
The verdict came after a four-day trial that began on Aug. 20.
San Benito County District Attorney Joel Buckingham said among the evidence presented to the jury was a video of the shooting and testimony of the relationship between Valdez and Amezcua. Buckingham added the jury was also made aware of a restraining order Valdez had against Amezcua since 2022.
Buckingham said the video shows Valdez was at the car wash and that Amezcua approached him shortly after arriving. He said Valdez’s and Amezcua’s families knew each other from Hollister High School’s cheerleading program.
He said he assumed the jury found Valdez acted in self defense.
Defense attorney Brian Worthington did not respond to BenitoLink’s requests for comment.
Asked why his office pursued the charges, Buckingham said that when there are questions of self-defense and a person is killed, “we’ll carry it to trial so the community can render a verdict.”
According to Hollister police, officers responded to a report of a fight involving gunfire on Feb. 9, 2024, around 2:20 p.m. When officers arrived, they found Amezcua suffering multiple injuries.
Valdez was found and arrested about an hour later. Police said the men were known to each other.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.