Jurors heard from the victim’s mother and a friend at the scene during the 2021 homicide in a Santa Maria Superior Court trial for a man accused of a fatally shooting a rival gang member. 

Alfredo Alaniz, 25, was arrested in Las Vegas in the summer 2021, weeks after the fatal shooting of Mario Angel Merino Gonzalez, 19, of Guadalupe.

Shortly after 2 a.m. on May 16, 2021, Santa Maria police officers, Santa Maria firefighters and an American Medical Response ambulance were dispatched to the shooting scene near North Lincoln and West Mill streets, a block west of North Broadway.

They discovered a man in the middle of the street who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Alaniz has been charged with murder plus special allegations, or sentencing enhancements, for use of a firearm and street terrorism.

On Monday, attorneys delivered opening statements for the criminal trial before the first witness took the stand.

Deputy District Attorney Nick Harmon told jurors they would see video, cellphone data and other evidence pinpointing the defendant’s connection to the crime including social media posts showing him wearing the same clothing.

“You’ll see his movements and his crime all on video,” Harmon said. 

He added that jurors would see “overwhelming evidence” connecting Alaniz to the killing.

The 19-year-old victim was shot 15 times in the back, Harmon said, calling it an ambush. 

“Alfredo Alaniz took a took a gun to a fistfight,” Harmon added.

But defense attorney Lori Pedego contended the her client didn’t commit the crimes, adding that jurors wouldn’t see any direct evidence of his involvement in the murder.

Instead, the defense attorney said Gonzalez had acquired “a lot of enemies.”

Pedego also warned jurors to doubt allegations her client confessed to the crime, noting there’s not recordings of any conversation. 

“What you will discover is the person who made the allegations changed her story multiple times to law enforcement…” Pedego added. 

While law enforcement officers contend Alaniz fled the Central Coast due to the shooting, the defense attorney said he traveled out of state for a baby shower.

The trial’s first witness, Maria Rosario Gonzalez, the victim’s mother, became emotional at times while talking about the last time she saw her son alive. 

But under cross examination, the mother dodged questions about her son’s alleged gang involvement, admitting she sometimes worried about his friends. 

The trial’s second witness, Alexis Morales Acosta, spent time with Gonzalez before the shooting.  

They and a third man ended up at Red-Eye Liquor on North Broadway, where the verbal confrontation outside the store eventually became a fistfight on a nearby street.

Acosta testified he saw a man running after Gonzalez and fire the gun. 

“I didn’t see him pull out the gun. I saw him shoot it,” Acosta added.

He recalled hearing several shots, getting up and running. 

“I was just scared. I didn’t know what to think,” he said. 

He later returned to the scene, recalling Gonzalez lying on the ground in the middle of the street.

“I was just hoping he was OK,” he added.

Superior Court Judge Kristy Imel is presiding over the trial which is expected to continue into December.