A 21-year-old man told a Santa Maria Valley courtroom about witnessing part of the gang-related torture of Anthony Ibarra two years ago, recalling later seeing the sad, scared victim looking bruised and swollen while in the shower where blood mixed with water went down the drain.
Six men are now on trial for Ibarra’s death in March 2013. One defendant, Reyes Gonzales, is the older brother of the witness, Robert Stan Sosa, who testified Thursday as part of his plea deal in the case.
Ibarra, 28, was brutally attacked March 17, 2013, in a house on West Donovan Road due to drug debts, and his body was later found in a U-Haul truck parked on an Orcutt street, according to authorities.
While testifying Thursday morning, Sosa recalled entering a bedroom where several defendants — identified as Ramon Maldonado, his father David Maldonado, Santos Sauceda, Jason Castillo and Anthony J. Solis — surrounded a naked Ibarra, who was on a shower curtain on the floor. The bleeding victim was on his hands and knees, and had a belt around his neck.
“I seen all of them striking Anthony Ibarra,” Sosa, now 21, said, identifying five of the six defendants in the room.
Sosa, who had just returned to the house after running an errand, recalled seeing the sixth defendant, his older brother, sitting with a man and woman who lived in the house. Gonzales appeared intimidated, putting up his hands and shrugging when his brother re-entered the residence, Sosa testified.
That prompted Sosa to move toward the back bedroom where Ibarra and the five other defendants were located.
Under questioning from Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen, Sosa said he knew his longtime friend was in trouble for “messing up.”
Bramsen asked if Ibarra had been “greenlit,” the term for when a gang orders a hit on someone.
“He was,” Sosa said.
He spoke of seeing Ramon Maldonado striking the victim numerous times in the head and face.
A screaming Ibarra shouted, “I’ll pay you. I’m sorry,” according to Sosa.
A sweaty and angry Maldonado reportedly responded, “You’re going to pay up. You’re going to pay up. You f—d up,” Sosa testified, adding other insults focused on the victim’s genital size.
“David Maldonado wasn’t saying anything. He was just standing there looking at the ground,” Sosa said, adding that the man held the victim’s clothing.
The witness also testified about the involvement of the other defendants in the room. Solis allegedly held the belt around Ibarra’s neck as if it were a leash. Sauceda reportedly stood nearby with widening eyes. Castillo grabbed the belt nearly causing the victim to lose his balance, before grabbing a machete in the room, Sosa said.
Ramon Maldonado, armed with what Sosa called a piece of scissors, allegedly began poking Ibarra in the back with the weapon more than once, Sosa said.
“I can’t count. I just know numerous times,” Sosa said in response to a question from the prosecutor.
After being in the room for a few minutes, Sosa was pushed out, given a pair of gloves, ordered to get rid of Ibarra’s cellphone and handed a machete he noted had blood on it. The witness recalled stashing the machete in his pants.
Sosa testified that Ramon Maldonado told those in the house “that everything’s going to be fine, that we were gangsters. This is what we do.”
To get rid of the machete, Sosa said he went to the house where his daughter’s mother lived and put the weapon under a shed. She asked what was wrong.
“I was crying,” he said. “Cause I was scared and I didn’t know if I was ever going to see them again.”
Once back at the Donovan Road house, Sosa heard the shower running and entered the bathroom after learning Ibarra was inside. The victim appeared sad, scared and hurt, Sosa said, adding Ibarra turned around to show a big gash on his back.
Sosa said he told Ibarra he would try to get help. However, Castillo refused, saying it was up to Ramon Maldonado.
Sosa tracked down Ramon Maldonado, recalling telling him, “This guy’s really hurt. I think he might be dying.”
“He said no, that I couldn’t take him to the hospital. That he was piece of s—t and he had to die,” Sosa said.
“I was scared. I was shocked that somebody I was friends with at the time would tell me that,” Sosa added.
Upon returning to the Donovan Road house, Sosa recalled Ibarra was sitting in the bathroom, with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.
“He started getting pale. He was telling me he couldn’t breathe,” Sosa said, adding Ibarra pleaded for help but Castillo again said Ibarra couldn’t go to the hospital.
Sosa left again, walking several block to Broadway with two of the people who lived in the house to fetch food and beer. When he entered after that excursion, Sosa noted his brother and Castillo had been cleaning.
“The house smelled like bleach,” Sosa said.
The man who rented the garage showed up and Sosa met him outside, advising that the tenant leave because “something happened in the house” and the cops were going to come.
“It wasn’t good to be there at that point,” Sosa said.
Later that night, Sosa went with others to Ramon Maldonado’s residence, where the alleged shot-caller was laughing and cooking, Sosa testified.
Bramsen asked why Sosa didn’t call 9-1-1.
“Because I was scared,” he said.
The man’s testimony corroborated much of what two earlier witnesses who were in the house that day said, including that many of the defendants wore gloves.
Sosa was among 11 people indicted by the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury two months after Ibarra’s death. He and three others have accepted plea agreements in the case.
A teenager, Ramon Maldonado Jr., will be tried as an adult later. He is the son and grandson of two of the defendants.
Also accepting plea deals were Verenisa Aviles, Pedro Torres and Carmen Cardenas.
The trial is scheduled to continue Friday in the Santa Maria Juvenile Court, where it’s being held due to the large number of participants.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.