UPDATE: Nine homicide suspects to appear for plea hearing of San Jose’s 15th homicide of 2012
SAN JOSE – On May 17, 2012, 9 gang members were involved in the shooting death of Ricky Jacques and felony assault of a second victim, who suffered only minor injuries.
The San Jose Police Departments Homicide Investigative Unit recently made an arrest of a ninth suspect involved in the killing. 28-year-old Claudio Betancourt appeared before Dept 24 on 11/18/2013. A No-Bail Warrant had been served on October 30 for his arrest under PC 187 – Felony Murder.
San Jose Police had previously arrested eight other suspects in connection with the killing of 18-year-old Ricky Jacques of San Jose. 9-1-1 dispatchers received a call shortly after eight o’clock that evening that a shooting had occurred. Police responded to the 1000 block of Walnut Woods Drive to find one victim who had been shot and killed, while another suffered injuries during a physical altercation with more than eight gang members.
Ricky Jacques was killed in a gang disturbance in this San Jose neighborhood.
19-year-old Eduardo Magana, 18-year-old Juan Carlos Castillo, 23-year-old Ramon Ramirez, 20-year-old Juan Pineda, 18-year-old Erik Hernandez, 24-year-old Tomas Leyva, and 24-year-old Adrian Alaniz have each been formally charged in the shooting death and brutal beating of a second victim. A juvenile suspect was also arrested. Each suspect was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on October 3, 2012. The homicide was San Jose’s 15th of that year.
Police believe that the murder occurred as a result of gang involvement, in which Betancourt and the eight other gang members killed Jacques with the specific intent to promote, and or to further assist criminal conduct by known gang members, violations under California penal code 186.22 (b) (1) (B).
The next court date for Betancourt has been scheduled for 1/06/2014 in Dept. 24 at 8:45 AM in the Superior Court Hall of Justice.
Read More:
San Jose Mercury News (2012): Police arrest 10 people in connection with May, June gang killings
Photos: Legacy.com and Google Maps
