Merced man convicted in 2014 drive-by shooting

A 26-year-old Merced man was convicted Thursday of having a role in a 2014 drive-by shooting.

Authorities say Michael E. Janes was beaten up April 18, 2014, at a home in the 3200 block of Juneau Court in Merced. What prompted the violence was unclear. According to Merced police, Janes left a party and returned a short time later, armed, in the back seat of a Honda Civic.

Janes opened fire from the back seat, possibly with a 9mm automatic, while the driver, identified by police as 41-year-old Andrew Ibarra of Modesto, fired into a large crowd of people that included numerous young children and older neighbors, according to investigators with the Merced Police Department.

“There were people there who didn’t have anything to do with (the violence) who could’ve been hurt,” said Detective Joe Deliman, the lead investigator. “It’s unfortunate that the victim was hurt, terrible, but it’s also fortunate there weren’t more people hurt.”

The victim, a 30-year-old Merced man, was shot once. The bullet passed through his left arm and lodged in his upper body. He recovered, authorities said.

Mathew Martinez, the Merced County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, said the victim was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Authorities said Janes, Ibarra and several others involved in the circumstances surrounding the attack have possible street-gang ties, but Martinez said the violence “was more of a personal beef” and that gang involvement was unrelated to the motive.

Martinez praised the investigation conducted by Deliman and other officers.

“It really was a team effort and they all did great work. It was a chaotic scene, a big crowd was there and was difficult to control,” Martinez said. “But they made the arrest very quickly, that same night, in fact.”

Martinez said the evidence in the case was “very strong” despite the fact that neither gun has been found.

“The defendant had (gunshot residue) on both his hands and there were numerous casings found in the car and one at the scene,” Martinez said. “There were numerous witnesses who saw (Janes) in the back seat of the car.”

Janes’ defense attorney, George Herman, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“The evidence was strong and I think that’s shown by the jury’s verdict,” Martinez said.

A Merced County jury on Thursday convicted Janes of assault with a firearm, shooting from a vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His conviction included several sentencing enhancements of personally using a firearm causing significant injury and participating in a drive-by shooting, among others.

The conviction followed a weeklong trial before Commissioner Jeanne Schechter in Merced Superior Court.

He faces a maximum of 39 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 27.

Another man, Adrian Delgado, was arrested with Janes in 2014, but was later released without charges and authorities do not believe he played any role in the shooting, according to police and prosecutors.

Ibarra has not been arrested and has been on the run since the time of the shooting. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Anyone with information regarding Ibarra’s whereabouts is asked to contact Deliman at 209-385-6992. Tips are confidential and callers can remain anonymous.

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Merced man convicted in 2014 drive-by shooting."