A man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for a 2006 murder of a Chula Vista man who was shot to death in a South Bay bar.
Willie Clarke Jr. was killed at the La Vuelta bar at 768 Hollister Street on April 3, 2006 shortly after midnight. Guillermo Nunez Gonzalez, now 42, was arrested in May, 2016, in Mexico for the slaying.
Clarke’s family attended the lengthy preliminary hearing conducted by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag which ended around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday after a full day of testimony from seven witnesses.
Two men who said Gonzalez pointed a gun at them during the incident testified. One of them was struck with the gun, but did not suffer serious injuries, said Deputy District Attorney Victor Ou.
Sontag ordered a trial on charges of murder, pre-meditated attempted murder, and two counts of assault with a firearm. A trial date was set for May 16.
There was a disagreement between Gonzalez and others in the bar, but Clarke was not involved in it. He was at the other end of the bar when he was shot and did not know any of the people involved.
The site is no longer a bar and a storage company occupies the area.
Ou said a warrant for Gonzalez’s arrest was issued at the time, but he fled to Mexico. Gonzalez was arrested by Mexican authorities and was handed over May 27 to members of the U.S. marshals and San Diego Fugitive Task Force.
Another judge declined to set any bail for Gonzalez, considering he is a flight risk and was a fugitive for 10 years. Sontag continued the no bail status and he remains in jail.
