A National City man who hid in Mexico after he allegedly shot an acquaintance 30 times in 2013 was ordered Oct. 21 to stand trial for murder.
The attorney for Manuel Joseph Castro, 50, asked Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag to dismiss the case at the end of the preliminary hearing involving the fatal shooting of Jesus Pena, 43, of National City, on March 23, 2013. The request was denied.
“He did not have a dispute with this man. His family did,” said Stephanie Slattery, who represents Castro. “It’s all very, very weak.”
Deputy District Attorney Robert Hickey said there were witnesses who saw someone in Castro’s truck fire gun shots repeatedly at Pena in a restaurant parking lot at 1502 of Sweetwater Road in National City.
The autopsy took three days to finish because Pena was shot so many times. National City Police officers testified witnesses heard a varying number of shots, but many of those who reported it thought they heard between 10 and 12 shots, with a short pause.
Customers of Carl’s Jr. and Hanaoka’s Japanese Restaurant dialed 911 around 5:30 p.m. and reported hearing gun shots, but most did not see Pena fall down in front of a dumpster.
Security camera footage showed Pena driving to the site in his blue Dodge minivan, with someone driving Castro’s Chevrolet pickup following him, and then driving off after the shooting.
Castro and his brother, Henry Paul Castro, 49, of Chula Vista, who is only charged with being an accessory after the fact, will appear in court Nov. 4 to get a trial date set. Hickey said he will ask that both Castro brothers be tried together.
Sgt. Christopher Sullivan, of National City Police, testified the murder weapon was not recovered and Pena was unarmed. There was no gun inside the van, he said.
Detective Aaron de Pascale testified he arrested Manuel Castro on June 29 after Mexican authorities released him from their custody at the border. Henry Castro was arrested the same day by National City Police.
Sgt. Tony Ybarra said he interviewed a Carl’s Jr. customer who heard shots while in the drive-thru line and saw the pick-up truck driver firing towards a dumpster. He said the driver was wearing a blue hoodie. The witness got a partial license plate number.
Detective Wade Walters testified he interviewed a customer from Hanaoka who lifted the blinds from inside the restaurant after hearing 10-12 shots. That customer noticed three shots hitting Pena, he said.
Walters said he and other officers later recovered Manuel Castro’s truck days later and it was covered with a blue tarp and was freshly painted. Walters interviewed a landlord who said Henry Castro paid 1½ month’s rent for his brother at a new place.
Detective Daniel Nagle testified he waited at Manuel Castro’s place of employment in Chula Vista on March 27, 2013, but he never showed up.
Henry Castro was ordered to stand trial as an accessory in a separate preliminary hearing on Aug. 4. He and his brother have pleaded not guilty. Manuel Castro remains in jail on $1 million, and so does Henry Castro with $200,000 bail.
