Two plead no contest in connection with Atwater homicide

Two men pleaded no contest Tuesday to being accessories to murder in connection with the stabbing death last year of a 36-year-old Atwater man.

Carlos Humberto Herrera was killed sometime around Sept. 5, 2015, on San Joaquin Court.

Herrera was beaten during a fight, tied to a chair, stabbed and later rolled into a rug and taken to an orchard near Snelling where his body was burned, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.

Alexis Eduardo Garcia-Jimenez, 20, and Francisco Alvarez, 25, accepted plea agreements from the Merced County District Attorney’s Office and were given credit for time served in custody.

Prosecutors said they admitted helping dispose of the victim’s body but were not directly responsible for the killing.

“As with every case, we look at each defendant’s culpability, and both were involved after the fact,” said Travis Colby, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

The alleged killer, Dionicio Gutierrez-Salazar, 37, was ordered to stand trial for premeditated first-degree murder, authorities confirmed.

Gutierrez-Salazar has pleaded not guilty.

He is set to return to court May 12. He remains in custody without bail in Merced County.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Two plead no contest in connection with Atwater homicide."