On June 8, 2017, a black GMC Yukon and a dark-colored sedan drove into the parking lot of Club La Ronda, 927 Duane Ave. in Sunnyvale. Driving the wrong way in the parking lot, another man — who club employees had kicked out for fighting — shouted his affiliation with the Mexican prison gang.
Just after the club closed, around 2 a.m., from inside the vehicles, a pair of rival gang members gunned down the man causing the disturbance, killing him. While they were at it, they also shot another man, severely injuring him.
With little more than grainy surveillance footage as evidence, Sunnyvale investigators had no leads. They had no suspects. The case went cold.
That is, until earlier this month when local investigators broke the cold case, arresting the alleged shooters. On Jan. 10, officers arrested Vincente Aguilera-Chavez, 32, and Agustin Sandoval, 35, charging them with murder of 21-year-old Edu Veliz.
Stockton and East Palo Alto’s Police Departments, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office assisted Sunnyvale police with the case.
Rob Baker, with the DA’s cold case team, said the increased prioritization in the DA’s office, along with a $500,000 federal grant for cold cases, has proven essential in solving such cases. This emphasis has emboldened police and prosecutors, he added.
“Once we started solving cold cases, that really helped to energize other departments to start working on cold cases,” he said. “Once we got the ball rolling … they have all shown a real strong interest in working these cases.”
In addition to the murder charge, the men also stand accused of causing “great bodily harm” to a second victim, Carlos Navarro, when they shot him with handguns, according to court documents. Charges for criminal conspiracy involving street gangs also loom over the duo.
According to the court documents, the shooting displayed “a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness.”
Further, because of two prior burglary convictions where he used a gun, Aguilera-Chavez (an alias for Jose Luischavez Marquez) is eligible for California’s three-strikes life sentence. Sandoval also served a prison sentence for burglary prior to the 2017 shooting.
Advancements in technology, such as better DNA analysis, have proved invaluable, Baker said. However, in this case, detectives used “traditional investigative measures,” diligently preserving evidence.
“A lot of these cases that couldn’t have been solved 20, 30 years ago are now solvable,” Baker said. “Being able to think outside the box and look at things differently is crucial.”
Since the DA’s office developed its cold case team, the number of cold case murders the DA has charged has increased from an average of one per year to an average of four per year.
Previously, Baker would prosecute cold cases. In recent years, a shift in DA policy has handed the trial over to a homicide prosecutor. Doing this frees Baker to continue investigating other cases instead of investing four-to-six months trying a case.
This strategy allows the DA’s cold case team to focus on solving cold cases, which pose “significant challenges,” getting harder to solve the older they get. As technology and evidence collection techniques evolve, Baker said, solving cold cases will get easier.
“A cold case prosecutor 20 years from now is going to have it made,” Baker said. “The goal is we just want to keep working these cases until there aren’t any more cold cases.”
Anyone with information about this case should contact Det. Matt Hutchison, with Sunnyvale police, at (408) 730-7110.
Related Posts:
Advancements in DNA Technology Help Prosecutors Charge Santa Clara Man in Cold-Case Murder
Coroner IDs Body Found in Santa Clara, Seeks Public Assistance in Tracking Down Family
1979 Sunnyvale Cold Case Homicide Solved
1982 Sunnyvale Cold Case Arrest Made
