SANTA CRUZ — A Santa Cruz man who pleaded no contest to murdering a 28-year-old man in a 2020 Mission Street gang-related shooting was sentenced Thursday to 15-years-to-life in prison.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati, addressing defendant Sergio Alvarez Lopez prior to his sentencing, said that reading a report compiled by the probation department on his history brought her to tears for Lopez and the shooting victim. She said the report gave no indication on how someone purported to be a loving father of two ended “doing this incredibly violent and heinous act to take someone’s life.”
“You were a child and your dad was in prison for a long time — still, I suppose — and now you’ve got kids,” Cogliati said. “It sounds like you realize that’s a horrible cycle and you wish to stop.”
Cogliati told Lopez she hoped that his children would be able to break the cycle set by their father and grandfather.
The family of shooting victim Juan Antonio Ruiz declined to provide impact statements to the court and did not appear to be in attendance for Thursday’s sentencing.
Riding in the passenger seat of a Mercedes sedan on the afternoon of July 28, 2020, Ruiz was killed after Lopez, a passenger in a passing vehicle, shot him in the back of the head. According to a Probation Department report quoting the Santa Cruz Police Department’s investigation, Ruiz had begun the process of enrolling at a sober living environment just prior to the shooting.
Lopez, riding with driver Jonathan Dominguez, reportedly yelled gang-related slurs, obscenities and “scraps” — a term of disrespect sometimes used by gang members toward those of a suspected rival gang — at Ruiz and his friend as they had passed by a city overlook.
The two vehicles continued onto Mission Street, where Lopez reportedly shot into the Mercedes near Fair Avenue before Dominguez drove away from the scene, according to court filings.
Lopez and Dominguez were stopped by Customs and Border Patrol within weeks of the shooting and allegedly found to have nearly 6 pounds of methamphetamine in their vehicle. Dominguez later reportedly told police that he, as the driver, was not pursuing the Mercedes but merely leaving the lookout area behind it when Lopez, his passenger, warned him to move out of the way as he shot into the other car.
Both Lopez and Dominguez were able to avoid a jury trial by agreeing to plea deals negotiated with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office. Dominguez, who pleaded to voluntary manslaughter with a felony attempted firearm enhancement and two counts of assault with great bodily injury, is expected to face no more than a 20-year prison term at his May 16 sentencing.
Lopez, who was on probation in a burglary case at the time of the shooting, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and a gang enhancement in February. He will receive a sentencing credit for more than three years of time already served.