The first of five alleged teen gang members who were accused of attacking and killing a 15-year-old boy at San Jose's Santana Row shopping center in February has been sentenced.
Following an emotional hearing Tuesday in a San Jose court, the unnamed 16-year-old implicated in the February 14 death of David Gutierrez was sentenced to two years in a secure facility at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, as the Mercury News reports. This was the maximum sentence sought by Gutierrez's family, who have been seen regularly protesting outside hearings — and the real drama in this case has yet to unfold when both an 18-year-old accused in the assault will be tried as an adult, and when a 13-year-old juvenile will be tried for committing the fatal stabbing.
The family is not likely to be successful in their plight, but they have been protesting for months over the state's laws that ensure relative leniency for juvenile defendents — and California's Prop 57, passed in 2016, guarantees that juvenile offenders under the age of 14 are tried in juvenile court. Gutierrez's family has called for an "urgent amendment to California laws" that would allow a young juvenile accused of murder, as in this case, to be tried as an adult.
A defense attorney for the 16-year-old sentenced this week had argued for home detention, or for a more lenient six- to eight-month sentence at a juvenile youth ranch, as the Mercury News reports.
Alex Adams, the supervising deputy district attorney of the juvenile justice team, tells the publication that the two-year sentence in a secure facility is the "highest level of accountability we have" for juveniles.
It remains possible that this will be the same sentence handed down to the 13-year-old accused of Gutierrez's murder.
Veronica Gutierrez, the mother of the victim, spoke to the Mercury News outside the hearing, saying that she had "explained to [the judge] how difficult my life has been without David and the struggles that I have every single day to even get out of bed." She said her son, who had no gang affiliation, was "wonderful" and a good student who loved boxing and cooking.
David Gutierrez's grandmother also reportedly offered an emotional appeal to the judge for a strict sentence.
Diana Gutierrez, the boy's aunt, tells the Mercury News, "Even though David won’t be coming back, they’re going to remember David. The wheels of justice turn slow, but I’m starting to understand what that battle means, and today is one of those days where we got a win."
The 15-year-old and his girlfriend were on a Valentine's Day date at Santana Row, and his family said he had put on a red jacket in order to be festive for the holiday. The girlfriend testified that the gang of boys at the mall mistook this for a sign of rival gang affiliation, and the five of them attacked David unprovoked.
The girlfriend further said that Gutierrez got off the ground and specifically challenged the 13-year-old to a fistfight, and that is when the knife came out. Gutierrez was stabbed three times.
The group of five are also accused of assaulting a man earlier that same night at Valley Fair Mall. Last week, the judge found that two of the 16-year-olds were reponsible for both attacks, while one who was more of a bystander in the Santana Row incident was reponsible only for the Valley Fair attack, per the Mercury News.
The 13-year-old suspect is due back in court Monday, and 18-year-old Emmanuel Sanchez-Damian is charged with felony assault in adult court, and that case is still pending.
The two other teens who were tried alongside the 16-year-old sentenced Tuesday are expected to be sentenced in the coming days.
Previously: Five Teen Suspects, Allegedly Affiliated With Local Gang, Arrested for Murder of San Jose 15-Year-Old
Top image: Photo of David Gutierrez via the family
