黑料福利社

The sister of Juan Carlos Jose Zavala had strong words for the men who were convicted of his 2022 murder.

鈥淚 hope they cry the tears that I cry, and (experience) the pain of a kid without their father now,鈥� Regina Robles said Thursday as she glared at the two men across a courtroom in the Yakima County jail basement. 鈥淔or me, there is no justice here in the courts. I will leave it with God, and I pray I have the will to see them burn in Hell.鈥�

Fabian David Lopez and Joseph Isaiah Pelayo, both 22, were sentenced in Yakima County Superior Court to 15 years each on second-degree murder in Zavala鈥檚 death and two second-degree assault charges for two other people wounded in the June 21, 2022, shooting outside a West Nob Hill Boulevard convenience store.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, Lopez entered an Alford plea earlier to the lesser charges while Pelayo pleaded guilty.

Lopez鈥檚 plea allows him to maintain his innocence while agreeing that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him if the case went to trial. In return for their pleas, Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Heather Thorn recommended 15-year sentences in what she said was 鈥渁 heavily negotiated case.鈥�

Scott Bruns, Lopez鈥檚 attorney, said his client strongly maintained that he never fired the shots that killed Lopez and wounded the others, but was in the vehicle at the time and a jury could find him guilty as an accomplice.

But Lopez鈥檚 mother and older brother insisted that he was innocent and didn鈥檛 deserve to go to prison.

鈥淗e鈥檚 not like that. He鈥檚 not a killer,鈥� Edith Lopez said. 鈥淚 raised him as a good boy. I talked to him, and he didn鈥檛 do anything.鈥�

Audiel Vargas said the day of the shooting, his brother was with him and they were talking about how to support their mother. Vargas said that he was trying to get his brother a job and Lopez couldn鈥檛 have killed anyone.

鈥淚 know deep down my brother would not commit a crime like this,鈥� Vargas said, while acknowledging Zavala鈥檚 family鈥檚 pain.

Likewise, Jose Pelayo, Pelayo鈥檚 father, expressed his condolences to the victim鈥檚 family, but also maintained his son was innocent.

鈥淗e was working hard to change his life around,鈥� the elder Pelayo said.

The pair were convicted of fatally shooting Zavala, a documented Sure帽o gang member, as he was fixing a flat tire at the Rocky Mart convenience store, 1003 W. Nob Hill Blvd., on June 21, 2022, according to court documents. A store employee and another man who were helping Zavala were wounded in the shooting.

Security video showed a vehicle pass the store, slow down, then go around the block and pass the store again before parking a block away, and two people, later identified as Lopez and Pelayo, getting out, according to court documents.

Evidence showed the pair were associated with a Norte帽o gang, according to court documents.

The pair went up to where Zavala and the others were and opened fire, hitting Zavala eight times, with wounds in the left side of his torso, his right wrist and forearm, and his left leg, while the store employee was hit in his right leg and the other man was hit in his right calf and left buttock, according to court documents.

The shooters then ran back to the vehicle and left, the documents said.

The three were taken to the hospital, where Zavala died while in surgery.

Lopez was identified as the owner of the vehicle based on the security video and the police department鈥檚 license plate reading system, which captured photos of the vehicle earlier in the month, court documents said.

Cellphone data also placed the pair in the area of the shootings at the time of the incident, court documents said.

Liliana Vargas, Zavala鈥檚 niece, said life for her family went downhill from the time of the murder, and that she no longer feels safe going to the gas station. Since the Rocky Mart was near a day care center, she can鈥檛 take her child to day care because of the trauma.

Pelayo鈥檚 attorney, Christopher Swaby, said he was prepared to take the case to trial, but said it was Pelayo who proposed the resolution. Pelayo鈥檚 age 鈥� he was 20 at the time of the shooting 鈥� was a factor in the crime, Swaby said.

鈥淭here are far too many young men acting on violent impulses in the area,鈥� Swaby said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure my client knows why what happened happened.鈥�

Judge Sonia Rodriguez True urged both men to use their time in prison to think about what had happened and resolve to do better when they are eventually released.

Addressing Lopez, Rodriguez True said that if he were to put the suffering he wrought on Zavala鈥檚 family and his own above his own concerns, it will change the future course of his life.

She said the only positive thing was Pelayo鈥檚 willingness to accept responsibility, and reminded him that he has a father, as opposed to Zavala鈥檚 child who will grow up without one.

鈥淗e鈥檚 gone. If you don鈥檛 feel the weight of that, you are not going to do much different than what you were doing,鈥� Rodriguez True said.