Daniel Moses Batchelder, 19, and 16-year-old Francisco Angel Limon both appeared before Judge Carter Holly in Department 14 for further arraignment. Both denied all charges, including premeditated murder and street terrorism.
Limon is being charged as an adult.
The teenagers are suspected of shooting Everuvaldo Cruz-Espino was shot in the neck while he was driving his car on the afternoon of Feb. 24.
He was found in his vehicle with the engine running in the middle of the intersection of Whispering Wind Drive and Tracy Boulevard by a passing Tracy police detective a short time after the shooting.
Cruz-Espino was shot once in the neck. His cousin, a passenger in the car at the time of the shooting, was uninjured. Cruz-Espino died a week later at a local hospital.
Police said that both defendants are believed to be affiliated with a street gang. Detective Ricardo Hernandez said police have no evidence to show the victim had any gang connections.
During Monday’s court hearing, both suspects entered their pleas, and a preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. June 11 in Department 14 in the Stockton courthouse.
Court officials estimated it would take three days to hear all the testimony in the case and for the judge to decide if there’s enough to try both teens in the killing.
Batchelder and Limon remain at San Joaquin County Jail and the county's juvenile hall, each located in French Camp. Batchelder is being held without bail while Limon's bail was set at $5 million.
Times have drastically changed for the worse and we may need our guns to protect ourselves from the very people you vote for today and they know it. DON'T LET THEM TAKE YOUR GUNS PEOPLE!!!!
Think about it your also ruining his life.
"don't do the crime if you can't do the time"
Yes, america sucks right now. We need more heroes who sets a positive example and less knuckleheads who are zeros in the character department like idiots in the black panther party.
The heroes are there, but our mass vision is constricted by American Idols.
You have my permission to continue sleepwalking.
You mean they're weren't gangs in N.Y., Boston, Philly, Chicago, L.A. deadly wife beatings, unsolved homicides. then eventually a president assassinated...