How many homicides did Merced County report in 2019? See which cases remain unsolved
In 2019, 15 people died from homicide in Merced County, matching 2018’s mark for the number of homicide deaths, and equaling the average for the last four years.
Six of those homicides happened within the Merced city limits. Atwater and Los Banos each reported one homicide. And the seven remaining deaths happened elsewhere in Merced County.
One-third of those homicides occurred in January 2019, while four of those deaths happened within the span of six weeks in September and October.
During the past decade, the years with the highest number of homicides for Merced County were 2014 and 2015, with 33 deaths reported each of those years.
Some of the homicide stories that made headlines this year included a homeless man killed on New Years Day 2019, the death of former Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse’s son, an off-duty Dos Palos police officer whose death by a Merced police officer was deemed justified, and a 19-year-old man who died days after being beaten outside his house.
The six homicides in Merced rose from 2018’s two homicides.
“The years we had two homicides, those were anomalies. We couldn’t believe it,” Acting Merced Police Chief Matt Williams said. “About five, six or seven is about an average year for us.”
While it’s statistically difficult to make correlations with the number of homicides of any given year in Merced, Williams said large-scale gang-busting operations, like Operation Scrapbook, may have had an impact on 2018’s low homicide rate.
Operation Scrapbook, a joint-initiative by law enforcement in 2017 and Merced County prosecutors, put local gangs’ “heavy hitters” away, Williams said. But more of those criminals served their time and were released in 2019, possibly leading to an increase in gang-related activity.
In general, Williams said he doesn’t believe the homicide rate to be high enough to indicate Merced isn’t safe.
“Most homicides aren’t just random,” he said. “They are gang shootings or domestic violence. The City of Merced is still a safe place to be, or shop.”
Williams said residents should follow basic safety principles when doing daily activities in Merced, including being aware of your surroundings, traveling in groups of people and looking up from phones.
Of the 15 Merced County homicides, at least eight have resulted in arrests, with at least 11 suspects being prosecuted as of the new year, according to law enforcement and prosecutors.
Here is a list of the names of each homicide victim in 2019, and what’s happening with their case.
Gardner Leroy Keys
Killed: Jan. 1, 2019
Location: East Mission Avenue and Highway 99, Merced County
Age: 55
Circumstance: Keys and another man were shot at multiple times at about 3 a.m. while they were inside a tent at a homeless encampment. Keys was killed and the other victim survived.
Case status: No arrests have been made. The case was under investigation by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Elias Vivanco Jr.
Killed: Jan. 19, 2019
Location: 21200 block of S. Reynolds Ave., Merced County
Age: 23
Circumstance: Vivanco, a Dos Palos resident, was shot and killed during a party. Merced County deputies responded to reports of gunshots at the party and found Vivanco and another victim. Vivanco died at the scene.
Case status: Two arrests were made: a 22-year-old man and a 19-year-old man who wasn’t charged and was released from custody.
The Merced County District Attorney’s Office charged the 22-year-old man with murder. But GPS coordinates from his ankle monitor showed he wasn’t at the party during the time of the homicide.
The 22 year old man’s charges were dropped and he wasn’t considered a suspect, prosecutors said.
The case continues to be under investigation by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Salvador Castillo Gonzalez
Killed: Jan. 23, 2019
Location: Cressey Way and Mercedes Avenue, Merced County
Age: 48
Circumstance: Gonzalez, a Winton resident, was found dead in a mostly dry canal at about 12:43 p.m. in the area of Cressey Way and Mercedes Avenue.
Case status: No arrests have been made. The case was under investigation by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Lajawn Trumaine Cokley
Killed: Jan. 25, 2019
Location: 400 block of Tucolay Court
Age: 34
Circumstance: Cokley was shot to death after he answered the doorbell at his home in the early morning, according to investigators’ reports.
As Cokley was on the floor, three suspects stormed the home and, at gunpoint, demanded other residents to point them to the “money,” “weed” and “jewelry,” the reports state. Quick thinking by one of the residents pointed the suspects to an empty safe, which the suspects reportedly took and fled.
Officers responded to 9-1-1 calls and reported that Cokley told them before dying at the scene that the man who shot him was 28-year-old James Collins Martin.
Case status: Merced police arrested Martin, who has pleaded not guilty. The other two suspects have yet to be arrested.
Martin’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 21, according to court records.
Jeff Bergeron
Killed: Jan. 25, 2019
Location: 4300 block of Bixby Way
Age: 50
Circumstance: Merced officers conducted a welfare check at Bergeron’s home after a witness said he didn’t come to work, according to police reports.
They noticed the front door was kicked in, odors of bleach and cleaning solution pervaded the house and several items were out of place, reports state.
Officers went to an upstairs bedroom where they found Bergeron’s body with head injuries.
Evidence and witnesses from the homicide and other recent robberies led police to three suspects: 24-year-old Modesto man Christopher Olvera, 24-year-old Merced resident Felipe Heredia and 26-year-old Louie Gonzales.
Case status: Merced police arrested Olvera, Heredia and Gonzales, who all pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Their next court date is scheduled for Jan. 28, according to court records.
Johnny Mathis
Killed: Feb. 12, 2019
Location: 1800 block of Lopes Avenue., Merced
Age: 46
Circumstance: Mathis, a former Merced County sheriff’s deputy and Dos Palos police officer who had a spotty record, was standing outside of his non-patrol car in the 2100 block of Highway 140 when someone reported a suspicious vehicle, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputies questioned Mathis and noticed he displayed signs of intoxication, prosecutors said. That’s when Mathis defied orders, got in his car and led the deputies on a chase, firing gunshots in the air as he drove.
Mathis ended up crashing into his estranged partner’s garage in the 1800 block of Lopes Avenue. Merced police arrived to back up deputies and a brief standoff ensued.
Mathis then fired a shot at a Merced police car. Merced police Officer Nate McKinnon returned fire, hitting Mathis with a fatal shot to the head. First responders attempted to revive Mathis, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Case status: Months after the officer-involved shooting, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office released a statement declaring the shooting of Mathis was justified.
A toxicology report also found Mathis had a blood alcohol content almost twice the legal limit.
Ethan Morse
Killed: March 15, 2019
Location: Fir Avenue and Winton Way, Atwater
Age: 22
Circumstance: Ethan Morse was sitting in a car at the corner of Fir Avenue and Winton Way after dropping his daughter off at daycare when he was shot and killed, police said.
Witnesses described the shooter as a Hispanic male with sunglasses, a black T-shirt and tan pants. The suspect reportedly fled east on Fir Street after the shooting.
Almost two months later, Atwater police released the identity of a prime suspect, 26-year-old Dagoberto Franco Penaloza, asking the public for any help or information in apprehending him.
Morse was arrested after being accused of involvement in a shooting homicide at an Atwater house party in 2013. However, a Merced County judge declared Morse factually innocent in the case. Morse was released and later sued Merced County and sheriff’s investigators for civil rights violations.
Morse in 2018 won a $526,649 judgment from Merced County after a jury ruled against the investigators.
Case status: Penaloza, who also is wanted in a Menlo Park homicide, hasn’t been located, Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador said. The manhunt continued with a $1 million warrant issued for Penaloza’s arrest.
Anyone with information on the crime is being urged to call the Atwater Police Department at 209-357-6396 or 209-357-6384. The Merced Area Crime Stoppers line is 855-725-2420, and it accepts text messages at 274637.
Raymond Angeles Jr.
Killed: April 9, 2019
Location: West Main Street and V Street, Merced
Age: 28
Circumstance: Angeles was found dead with a single gunshot wound in a field in Merced, police said, hours after he was killed following a series of gang-related fights.
Cellphones located at the scene helped investigators piece together a series of events that started with two juvenile girls getting into a fist-fight over gang-related issues, according to police.
Case status: Richard Rivera Jr., 21, of Yuba City was arrested along with the two juveniles. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Cathy Ramirez, another homicide suspect.
Rivera was charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Lorenza Silva De Loeza
Killed: May 19, 2019
Location: 600 block of North Easy Street, Merced
Age: 40
Circumstance: Silva De Loeza was reportedly arguing with her husband of over 20 years, Raul Loeza, the whole day of May 18, 2019, according to police reports.
That night, two of the couple’s children heard an argument and entered the couple’s bedroom. They reportedly saw Loeza on top of his wife stabbing her multiple times with a knife.
First responders attempted life-saving measures, but Silva De Loeza died at the home.
Case status: Loeza, 51, was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder. He has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Juan Manuel Ramirez
Killed: July 14, 2019
Location: 1400 block of Merced Avenue, Merced
Age: 48
Circumstance: Ramirez was hanging out with a female roommate and her boyfriend and sister at a Merced casino the night of July 13 when some type of argument ensued, investigators believe. Hours later, witnesses reported hearing gunshots near Ramirez’s home, according to police reports.
Ramirez was found in the street with gunshot wounds to his back and the back of his head.
Authorities believe the roommate, 35-year-old Karla Mariela Perez, and her boyfriend, 39-year-old high-ranking gang member Stuart John Tsuneo Nagata, plotted to kill Ramirez that night. Perez’s sister, 39-year-old Annabelle Perez, and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Martin Santoyo Olvera, were considered accomplices.
Case status: Nagata and Karla Perez were held to answer to murder charges. Olvera and Annabelle Perez were held to answer on being accessories to the slaying. All four have pleaded not guilty, but are expected to enter updated pleas on Jan. 7.
Samuel Bernal
Killed: August 14, 2019
Location: El Redondo Drive and Pacific Drive, Merced
Age: 20
Circumstance: Samuel Bernal and a 17-year-old victim were reported shot on Aug. 12, 2019, near Merino Park in Merced, and were transported to area hospitals.
The teen’s injuries weren’t life-threatening and he was released from the hospital. But Bernal died from his injuries two days later.
Case status: Merced police identified three suspects who were not charged and were later released from custody.
Jose Villarreal Nunez
Killed: Sept. 5, 2019
Location: South Ivett Road and East Childs Avenue, Planada
Age: 47
Circumstance: A farm worker found Villarreal Nunez on a dirt road between a canal and farmland near Planada, authorities said.
His body showed signs of trauma, deputies said, with the Merced County Coroner’s Office ruling the death as a homicide.
Case status: No arrests have been made. The case remains under investigation by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Mario Murillo Quinonez
Killed: Sept. 7, 2019
Location: 14000 block of Green House Road, Merced County
Age: 48
Circumstance: Quinonez, who was reportedly drinking, got into an argument with a woman at a house party, deputies said.
Quinonez then allegedly threatened a man who was defending the woman, officials said, before the man, “in fear for his life,” took out a gun and shot Quinonez.
Case status: No arrests have been made. The case remains under investigation by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
Jose Raul Nolasco
Killed: Oct. 13, 2019
Location: 500 block of West I Street, Los Banos
Age: 37
Circumstance: Nolasco was reportedly having some sort of argument with 46-year-old Juan Luis Gonzalez Torres outside the El Bohemia Rincon bar in downtown Los Banos before Gonzalez Torres was believed to have killed Nolasco with a single gunshot.
Los Banos police identified the vehicle in the homicide and a Merced County sheriff’s deputy spotted it at a hotel in Santa Nella, according to a news release. As Deputy Diane Rentfrow waited for detectives, she saw Gonzalez Torres and his family members pack up belongings before leaving on Insterstate 5 in an apparent attempt to flee the country.
Rentfrow then stopped the vehicle on the I-5 onramp before Los Banos detectives arrested him.
Case status: Gonzalez Torres has pleaded not guilty to murder. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 9.
Jayzhan Gilmore
Killed: Oct. 19, 2019
Location: 1400 block of Esplanade Drive, Merced
Age: 19
Circumstance: Gilmore’s mother told the Sun-Star the teen was playing video games when he walked outside their home to meet a friend on Oct. 10, 2019.
That, she said, is when Gilmore was beaten by multiple male suspects. After about 15 minutes after he left the house, two boys carried the unconscious teen onto a couch in the house.
Gilmore was taken to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, where he died nine days later due to his injuries.
Case status: No arrests were made. But the Merced Police Department sent recommendations for manslaughter charges to the District Attorney’s Office, Merced Sgt. Rey Alvarez said.
No one was charged as of the new year, Interim Chief Deputy District Attorney Tom Pfeiff said, noting charges may or may not be filed in the future.