People v. Jeronimo CA5

FACTS

Victim Abrahan Gaspar lived with his mother, Tomasa Reyes and her husband, Melesio Ramirez, in Hanford. Gaspar became the youth pastor at Tomasa’s church in 2008, and later worked as an assistant pastor in 2012. Gaspar’s job duty was to preach on Sundays. Gaspar began dating codefendant Angelita Reyes. During their relationship, Angelita3 and her two sons would sometimes sleep in Gaspar’s room. According to Tomasa, Gaspar “couldn’t preach any more” once he began dating Angelita, because “he felt bad about preaching.” Later, Tomasa testified that, in fact, the head pastor prohibited Gaspar from preaching due to his relationship with Angelita.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated. Angelita was convicted of first degree murder. The jury acquitted Arturo. 3 Because multiple individuals involved in this case share the last name Reyes, we will refer to Angelita by her first name.

2. While Gaspar was dating Angelita, he was going through divorce proceedings with his wife in Mexico. According to Tomasa, Angelita would become angry with Gaspar because he would send money to his daughter in Mexico. Tomasa believed Angelita was jealous…