Two men convicted of murder in Bay Point attack

MARTINEZ – Two members of the Norteño gang were convicted earlier this month of murdering a 38-year-old man in a beating so brutal that some investigators initially thought the victim had been hit by a car, court records show.

Jesse Addison, 24, and Erick Ruiz, 29, were convicted of first-degree murder and gang enhancements in the beating of 38-year-old Johnny Burns, a killing apparently motivated by a gang rivalry and mistaken identity. Prosecutors alleged that Ruiz, Addison and a third man mistook Burns for a member of their rivals, the Sureños, called him a “junk” and then beat him to death.

The third defendant, Abel Garcia, 25, accepted a plea deal in April before trial and is awaiting sentencing. Burns was killed on July 19, 2019 in Bay Point.

“They literally beat the life out of him,” Assistant District Attorney Kristen Busby told the jury during closing arguments. She said Burns denied being a gang member but the three attacked him anyway.

Using a model skull, Busby described Burns’ extensive injuries to the jury in detail. He suffered 23 broken ribs, broken bones in his eye sockets, skull fractures, a dislocated jaw and his ears were severed from his skull, she said.

The three spent the day hanging out and driving around to memorials of other gang members, Busby told jurors, claiming this fueled their desire to attack a rival.

“Addison, Ruiz and Garcia were out for blood that night,” she said. After the killing, Garcia and Ruiz attacked a man at a gas station elsewhere in Bay Point, she said.

The defense argued that the police had not only rushed to judgment, but lied and planted evidence implicating the three. Addison’s layer, Matthew Fregi, said police did not adequately investigate the possibility that Burns had actually been hit by a car, which he said the autopsy report failed to eliminate.

Fregi also urged jurors to give the defendants the same consideration they would give anyone else.

“As despicable as their lifestyle may be, they are still human,” he said.

Originally published: August 14, 2024 at 11:54