Merced man arrested in cold case from 2000 homicide

An investigation into a 15-year-old homicide turned up new evidence that led police to arrest a Merced man on Monday.

Vong “Launny” Phomvilay, 39, was booked at Merced County jail Monday pending charges of first-degree murder. He was held in lieu of $1 million bond.

Phomvilay is suspected in the death of 26-year-old Francisco Gonzalez of Los Banos in 2000.

Merced police Sgt. Curt Gorman said a new “critical” piece of evidence surfaced, making the arrest possible, but he declined to offer details in order to protect the investigation.

Gonzalez and one other person were shot near First and S streets on March 26, 2000. Gonzalez died at the scene, said Gorman, who was one of the detectives initially assigned to the case. The shooting was believed to be gang-related and linked to a dispute over turf.

Eyewitnesses identified Phomvilay as a shooter along with another man. Phomvilay, who was 23 at the time, was arrested in 2000 and jailed for six months, but the Merced County District Attorney’s Office determined there was not enough evidence to prosecute and he was released.

In the following years, Phomvilay was jailed for numerous drug-related convictions and violating parole. He was arrested without incident at 7:30 a.m. Monday in the 1600 block of West 16th Street.

The second suspect in the shooting has not been identified, Gorman said.

“Detectives did a really good job of following up,” Gorman said. “They put some hard work and long hours into being able to make an arrest.”

Robert Carroll, chief deputy district attorney with Merced County, said issues with the evidence 15 years ago were resolved, enabling detectives to make an arrest. Charges against Phomvilay will be formally filed within a few days and a prosecutor will be assigned to the case, he said.

“Any time we can develop evidence in a homicide case, we’re always looking to do that,” Carroll said.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Merced man arrested in cold case from 2000 homicide."