HAYWARD — One man has been sentenced to 22 years and four others have been released from jail after accepting plea deals in a beating that one judge called a “brutal” and “ferocious” show of dominance by a local gang.
Victor Lucero, 33, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the beating death of 25-year-old Yeison Toroc, and was sentenced to 22 years in state prison. Four others — 21-year-old Christian Inocencio, of Fremont; 26-year-old Jonathan Delacruz, of Union City; 50-year-old Juan Navarro, of Hayward; and 29-year-old Kevin Gonzalez, of Hayward — all pleaded no contest to assault and were sentenced to time they’ve already served since their arrests in 2022, clearing the way for their release from jail.
The attack occurred in October 2021.
According to police testimony at the 2023 preliminary hearing, Lucero used a bottle to beat Toroc in front of a laundromat in the 400 block of West A Street, while the others, except for Navarro, punched and kicked him. Navarro was charged for being the alleged impetus behind the attack, which police say was motivated by his accusation that Toroc had stolen drugs from him in an area that the Sureño gang claimed as its “turf.”
Authorities said at the time of the attack that Navarro was a methamphetamine dealer who paid taxes to a Sureño subset, and that he was arrested with more than a quarter-pound of the drug and $500 in his backpack. At the preliminary hearing, Judge Clifford Blakely said it was clear the intent was to do more than just leave Toroc with a couple bruises.
“This was a ferocious attack meant to send a brutal message, a show of force.· And the probability in death from such an attack is more than just remote,” he said, according to a transcript of the hearing.
The suspects were identified through video surveillance and witness statements, although Gonzalez’s identification was particularly easy; he was on parole at the time and equipped with a GPS monitor. When questioned, he denied involvement, according to Hayward police Det. Jason Green’s testimony.
“He told me that he didn’t do anything and tried to play it off as if he was never there and didn’t know what I was talking about. I was like, ‘Hey, I know you did it,’” Green said.
At the change of plea hearing for one of the defendants, Deputy District Attorney Robert Mohen said prosecutors had notified Toroc’s family about the deal.
“They indicated it was a lot of information to understand. But I believe they understood our reasoning for the different dispositions for each of the five defendants,” Mohen told Judge James Cramer, who has since passed away. “And they were comfortable with the dispositions that we reached.”