Jury trial begins for car-to-car shooting defendant

David Wilson, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·2 min read

Mar. 5—Attorneys made opening arguments and the first witnesses were called in the jury trial of a man charged for his alleged involvement in a car-to-car shooting.

Avery Sanchez, 22, is charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. The charges stem from a shooting in May 2019 that left Alejandro Escobar, 38, dead. The shooting happened on Highway 70, south of Plumas Lake Boulevard. A second victim was treated for a minor injury.

It is alleged that Sanchez and Vivion Wallace, 23, shot and killed Escobar while Juan Barajas drove the vehicle. In February 2020, Wallace pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He is currently serving 62 years to life in state prison.

After two days of jury selection, opening arguments began Thursday afternoon with Yuba County Chief Deputy District Attorney Shiloh Sorbello. He gave a recap of the alleged shooting, describing how the car carrying Escobar and two others stopped in Marysville to get gas on its way to Sacramento from Chico. When they returned to the highway, the car carrying Barajas, Sanchez and Wallace came up alongside the car three times.

The third time, Wallace shot at the other car from the back seat and Sanchez allegedly stood up outside the car's sunroof from the front passenger seat and shot at the other car, according to Sorbello. He said Barajas' will testify to seeing Sanchez sit back down inside the car holding a gun and that there were two guns that fired.

He said the district attorney's office will be calling approximately 20 witnesses. Sanchez's attorney Roberto Marquez said Sorbello's description of what took place will not be shown by the evidence. He said the prosecution's own witnesses will contradict Sorebello's version of the shooting.

Marquez said Barajas' testimony will exonerate Sanchez and that there was only one shooter — Wallace.

"This is not a who-done-it," Marquez said. "... There is no evidence that my client killed this person."

The first two witnesses called in the case were Escobar's daughter and Victor De Leon, a passenger in the car and Escobar's nephew who survived the shooting. Escobar's daughter described talking to her father while he was on his way home the day of the shooting.

De Leon was emotional as he described events leading up to the shooting. He identified Sanchez as the person in the passenger seat of the car that pulled alongside his. The trial will continue in Yuba County Superior Court today.

Because of distancing, observers can view the trial from Department 6 via a video stream.

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