5 Years Later, EPA Gang Member Admits Deadly Shooting: DA

A 24-year-old man already imprisoned for his role in a gang-related jewelry store attempted robbery has pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a 2013 fatal shooting in East Palo Alto, San Mateo County prosecutors said Monday.

Leonard Gaines entered the plea Friday for the shooting that killed Jonathan Alcazar, 24, and injured a second person on Jan. 14, 2013, in the backyard of Alcazar's home on Illinois Street.

Gaines was sentenced in November 2016 to 20 years in prison for the 2013 attempted armed robbery of Plaza Jewelers at 3303 Middlefield Road near Menlo Park.

Gaines and two accomplices were described by the district attorney's office as members of the East Palo Alto Sunny Day gang. He entered the no contest plea to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm charges with gang enhancements on the condition that he is sentenced to five years and four months in prison following the existing 20-year sentence, prosecutors said.

He will return to court on Jan. 25 for sentencing. His defense attorney Kenneth Rutherford was not immediately available for comment.

By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock