Murder charge filed in Atwater homicide case

An Atwater man was charged Friday with first-degree murder for allegedly gunning down a 27-year-old man on a street near a city ballpark.

David J. Lastra, 35, is accused of killing Richard Valentine, shooting him nearly a dozen times Monday evening on the street in a 1200 block of Park Street.

Lastra was arrested Tuesday at a home in the 1200 block of East Bellevue Road in Atwater and was being held without bail at the Merced County jail. If convicted, he faces a potential prison sentence of 75 years to life behind bars, according to Rob Carroll, Merced County chief deputy district attorney.

Carroll declined to comment on a motive for the homicide and also said it was too early to discuss the nature of the relationship between Lastra and Valentine. He commended the Atwater Police Department, saying investigators worked quickly to gather evidence in the case and identify the suspect.

Atwater police Lt. Samuel Joseph said Valentine and Lastra were “acquaintances” who were supposed to meet on Monday. “What they were meeting about is something that’s still under investigation,” Joseph said Friday.

Prosecutors described Lastra as “parolee with a violent history.”

Lastra pleaded no contest Oct. 7, 2013, to a felony assault charge and was sentenced to serve three years in prison, according to Merced County Superior Court records.

Valentine’s younger sister, Melanie, said she hopes the man responsible for killing her brother receives the maximum penalty.

“That’s what we want. He made us suffer, and we want him to suffer like the same way he made us suffer,” she said Friday.

Valentine is survived by his parents, six siblings and a son, A’sante, who will turn 2 years old next month.

“My brother did have his ins and outs with going to jail, but he was a good person,” Melanie Valentine said. “He always tried to take care of people. If you didn’t have any food, he’d bring you over to the house. That’s just the kind of man he was.”

She said her brother had spent time in jail but was trying to get his life together and find a job.

She said the family does not know why her brother was killed or what, if any, relationship he had with Lastra.

“The only thing we know is that this didn’t have to happen,” she said. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Murder charge filed in Atwater homicide case."