By Alexander Ramirez
WOODLAND, CA. – Julian Matta Garcia and Monica Meriah Flores were in Yolo County Superior Friday on charges relating to a shooting that took place Nov. 19, 2020—their preliminary hearing began with a witness who was in Solano County Jail but who claimed he knew nothing.
While Flores only has a charge of accessory to a felony, Garcia has five different charges, including assault with a semiautomatic firearm that included an enhancement of the use of a firearm, with one charge including another enhancement of great bodily injury.
Other than those five charges, Garcia also faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony, and two enhancements for habitual criminals.
Anthony Bravo, who is serving time in Solano County for vehicle theft, was called by Deputy District Attorney Caryn Warren because the DDA suggested Bravo was staying at the California Motel during the crime.
However, Bravo denied working with Garcia and even denied knowing who he was. He also denied being at the California Motel during the shooting. Bravo says that he was staying at the motel until he could get cleared by the court so he could live with his mom.
When asked if he knew the lead investigator of the case or ever talked to him, he denied both questions, saying, “No I don’t. I was high on drugs. I’ve been on drugs my whole life so, I mean I really don’t remember anything that went on. I remember talking to him about someone named a guy named Ryan Estepa, but no. They were accusing me of killing somebody but I’ve never done that in my life.”
He would continue to recall the events of the police investigating him, but nothing else.
Before Warren tried to continue to ask questions about the incident of the case, Bravo said, “Man, I thought I was here for some traffic stuff, not for standing here as a witness. I don’t remember anything that went on that day. I got pulled out of Solano County for this? I mean, that’s not cool. Why am I here?”
Any further questions were either denied or shortly answered until Bravo once again said he wasn’t supposed to be there in the court.
In response, Warren asked if he was afraid to be in court today.
“No, I’m not afraid for nothing. I’m not scared of nobody. I’m not scared of anything. I’m not scared of you. I’m not scared of him. I’m not scared of them. I’m not scared of him. I’m not scared of this. I’m not scared, okay? I’m not scared. I’m not scared,” said Bravo.
He denied knowing Garcia or Flores, when asked by the DDA, and responded at one point to DDA Warren, “Who are you?,” adding, “No, I do not know who nobody is. I know who I am though. I’m Anthony Bravo.”
Questions continued to be answered in this manner before Bravo was excused from court.
The lead investigator of the case, Roman Keister, gave his testimony next.
He would recall being dispatched to the California Motel for a shooting that had occurred but was rerouted to a vehicle that was involved in the incident heading down the I-5.
After making contact with the vehicle, he described seeing four subjects and recalling that a fifth person that was originally in the vehicle was being transported to a hospital because of a bullet wound in their lower back.
According to one of the subjects in the car questioned by Keister, Garcia shot at the vehicle as it was driving away from the motel, hitting one of the subjects.
Keister recounted another subject telling him that they were at the motel to pick up the belongings of the person struck by the bullet since she and Garcia used to date.
Anthony Bravo came up during questioning again when Keister answered that he questioned Bravo on the day of the incident, with Bravo saying he knew Garcia because of previous work they have done together and a truck he lent Garcia at one point.
When questioned about the shooting by Keister, Bravo told him that he saw the incident while he was having a smoke. According to Keister, Bravo heard four or five shots being shot by Garcia with an AR-15 before Garcia went back into his room.
Keister continued to state Bravo described Garcia leaving with another white man in a sports car after Garcia put the gun and a security system in the trunk of the car. When this man was questioned, he said he was paid by Garcia to get him out of there and toward different hotels he could stay at.
As for the items in the trunk, the driver of the car eventually saw Garcia move the items into another car after he dropped off Garcia in a parking lot.
Garcia’s attorney, Sacramento Defense Attorney Michael J. Favero, managed to clarify with Keister that, according to one of the subjects in the vehicle that was shot at, there were prior unreported shootings directed toward Garcia and an instance of one of the subjects getting in a brawl with Garcia previously.
Favero also clarified with Keister that narcotics were eventually found in Bravo’s room and that the white man in the sports car aided with putting items in his trunk when he picked up Garcia.
Flores’ Defense Attorney, Chet Templeton, affirmed with Keister that the security system that was placed in the trunk of the car was the motel’s security system, but there were differing accounts as to who explicitly put the system in the car.
As for Warren’s redirect, she clarified that the vehicle that was shot at did not have any weapons when it was searched, but Favero clarified that it wasn’t searched on scene.
The final testimony of the case came from Jeremy Hembree, a Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy that also responded to the California Motel, who noted an employee of the motel said Garcia broke into the motel office and took the security system of the motel.
When questioned by her attorney Templeton, Hembree testified Flores said she attempted to convince Garcia to turn himself in at one point and that’s why she didn’t contact the police.
But DDA Warren charged Flores never tried to contact the police at all.
DDA Warren attempted to recall Bravo, but counsel for Garcia, Favero, objected and Judge Reed sustained it.
Although Judge Reed originally wondered why the other people in the car not struck with the bullet should still have assault charges associated with them, Warren argued that four or five shots were fired at the vehicle and those other victims were in the vehicle at the time.
Judge Reed said he still has concerns over those counts but found that for purposes of a preliminary hearing that there is sufficient evidence to hold Garcia for trial on all counts.
Also, although Flores’ attorney argued her charge should be reduced to a misdemeanor because of her lack of a criminal record, Judge Reed kept it as a felony because, he said, of the nature of the incident and her knowledge of where Garcia was staying.
The matters were set to reconvene on Dec. 17 for arraignment and trial setting.
