Varrio San Marcos gang shoots up Oceanside baptism party

A parolee was wearing a GPS ankle monitor when he drove a car full of homies to shoot up a baptism celebration, according to a prosecutor. The shooting four years ago killed one man and two more were wounded, and suspects have since been identified and arrested.

Prosecutor Shawn Tafreshi claimed that Luis Ezekial Espinoza, then 26, was the eldest gangmember and he had the most status of all six alleged Varrio San Marcos (VSM) gang members in his car.

Espinoza was wearing a VeriTracks ankle bracelet as part of a GPS monitoring system used for parolees in California. When he was later contacted by police, Espinoza, whose gang name is allegedly “Serio,” claimed he was in that neighborhood at that moment to pick up a girlfriend.

Espinoza, now 29, is accused of driving his own car, a silver Nissan Altima, into rival territory in Oceanside nearly four years ago, the night of April 28, 2018.

The other VSM suspects allegedly in his car were named as: Emmanuel Nelson whose gang name is “Puma,” Omar David Ornelas known as “Damage,” Anthony Avila known as “Devious,” Miguel known as “Blanco,” and a man named Elmer Ayala.

The celebration of the child’s baptism started about 2 p.m. that Saturday on Jacqueline Lane, near Tri City Hospital. About 8 p.m. the party was winding down, but there were still 30 or 40 people there, some outside the home with many children running around, according to witnesses.

Two tall men reportedly walked toward the house party, one of the men held a silver pistol. One of the strangers reportedly yelled “This is Ghost Town! I’m looking for Vista Home Boys!” and the other yelled “Varrio San Marcos!”

At 7:59 p.m. multiple calls to 911 reported gunshots.

The godfather of the baptized was seen grabbing up two small children and he turned and ran for the house. Another witness said he heard “at least two gunshots pop off.”

One victim was standing in the front yard smoking a cigarette and, “I heard a gunshot and I got hit.” It was one bullet that went through his arm and into his rib cage, “That’s what the surgeon told me.” His lung was damaged and he was in hospital for one month. Both this 26-year-old man plus another man, 45, who had been standing outside and was struck by bullets, survived.

Police later found four 9mm expended casings in the street in front of the party house; they collected one blue box cutter from underneath a car parked at the curb there.

One man named Jose Alfredo Jimenez, 29, came running out of the party house during the confrontation. The two strangers reportedly turned and ran back toward their car, which was parked a half block away, on Thunder Drive. Jimenez reportedly chased the two strangers all the way back to their car, and he smashed a brick into the head of one of the intruders.

Jimenez suffered gun shots to his right arm, right torso, lower back, buttocks, and groin. It was reported that his kidneys, liver, lung, and heart were damaged. He did not survive.

Police later collected nine expended shell casings in the street on Thunder Drive, and more 9 mm Winchester casings in a driveway. Bullet holes in the facade of one house and the damaged tire of one parked vehicle were photographed.

Prosecutor Tafreshi has alleged that Emmanuel Erik Nelson and Omar David Ornelas, both 21 at the time, were the two alleged Varrio San Marcos gang members who shot the party-goers.

Investigators later recorded multiple suspects speaking to each other in jail cells, according to testimony at a pre-trial hearing. Ornelas reportedly said that if DNA could be found on the cartridges or bullets he “would be fucked.”

It is alleged that Ornelas first had the gun and he wounded the two persons who were outside the party. Then Nelson shot Jose Alfredo Jimenez to death, after Jimenez struck him with the brick, according to the prosecutor.

Emmanuel William Erik Nelson, now 25, whose gang name is allegedly “Puma,” has a PUMA symbol tattooed on his neck, and SM on the back of his neck, and GHOST TOWN large on his back, and 1904 on his right forearm and 1913 on his hands, according to a San Diego County Sheriff gang expert who testified at a pre-trial hearing. (The numbers 19 and 13 correspond with the letters S and M in the alphabet, and 19 and 04 for the letters S and D for San Diego.) Police allegedly found different YouTube videos, one labelled Rap from G Boy SM, in which Nelson’s voice declares allegiance to Varrio San Marcos and that he “Kills for the thrill” and that he has “murderous tendencies, pulling triggers on enemies.”

Omar David Ornelas, now 24, allegedly has a Georgia Tech logo tattooed on one arm, the gang expert said the GT symbol is used by Ghost Town members. Police claim they found rap lyrics on Ornelas’ phone, in which he spoke about his gang moniker, saying that he goes by “Damage” because he inflicts damage on his enemies.

The Sheriff’s gang expert said that Varrio San Marcos has about 62 documented gang members, and they claim the entire city of San Marcos. They call themselves VSM for Varrio San Marcos, and GT for Ghost Town, and SMGT and 1913. The founders of VSM in the 1970s called it Ghost Town or 720, because there was not much there at the time. Then in 2004 a shot caller created a subset gang called the Wolfpack, or SMWP, or 2316.

The driver who wore a GPS monitor, Espinoza, is alleged to be part of Wolfpack, the subset of Varrio San Marcos.

Both Nelson and Orenelas have prior felony convictions, with gang allegations. Their next court date is January 25, 2022, to set a date for trial.