Judge Christine Van Aken ruled today after a two-day preliminary hearing that Alexander Martinez, 30, accused of shooting and killing Alberto Vargas Quero, 23, outside a Mission barbershop in April, will stand trial for murder.
Martinez has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail in San Bruno.
In addition to murder, Martinez will face three other felony charges — discharging a firearm from a vehicle, carrying an unregistered loaded firearm and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle — as well as a misdemeanor charge for brandishing a firearm.
Martinez’s interview with San Francisco police investigators following his arrest in April became a subject of scrutiny during Friday’s portion of the preliminary hearing.
Brian Burke, one of the sergeants conducting the interview, testified that Martinez admitted during the interview to owning and firing the unregistered gun, which he said he purchased off the street for around $1,000.
Burke said a search of Martinez’s vehicle at the time of his arrest turned up an unregistered Glock 23 handgun. A serial number query revealed it was stolen in Oakland.
During the hearing, a second gun was mentioned, but no one elaborated about the second firearm. San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Danielle Hilton declined to say whether the Glock 23 was the firearm used in the shooting or if it was the second gun.
In a video played during Thursday’s portion of the preliminary hearing, Martinez told the investigators shortly after the shooting that he did not mean to fire the shot that killed Vargas Quero; his gun “just went off.” A witness also said in Thursday’s hearing that the incident began when Martinez got into a dispute with two barbershop employees, one of them Vargas Quero.
Martinez’s public defender Semuteh Freeman tried to establish that her client’s gun went off when he lifted it up to brandish it. It’s unclear if she succeeded. Burke confirmed that Martinez said he “shot in the air.” To demonstrate, Burke stuck his right arm out to the side at a roughly 20-degree angle. He added that he did not find bullet holes in the roof of Martinez’s vehicle.
Hilton said sitting in the driver’s seat and shooting out the passenger window would constrain the direction Martinez shot in. She added that video footage showed many pedestrians on Mission Street at the time of the shooting. “He shot down a busy street,” Hilton said.
Burke said that during the interview, Martinez said he was afraid of Vargas Quero and Jose Ingrand Hernandez, the other barbershop employee who was with Vargas Quero at the time of the shooting. According to Burke, Martinez said during the interview that he shot to scare the two, but did not realize he had killed someone and “never put his finger on the trigger.”
Freeman requested Martinez be granted home detention or bail, adding that he has the support of family members, some of whom were present at the preliminary hearing. Freeman said Martinez’s mother was willing to put her home up as collateral to help post bail.
The judge denied the request, however, citing the “sheer impulsivity” of the firing incident.
Martinez has been ordered to appear for instruction on arraignment on Aug. 9.
