*NEWS RELEASE*
BARRIO DREAM HOME GANG MEMBERS SENTENCED FOR MURDER

INDIO - Two Barrio Dream Home gang members, Juan Carlos Flores, 22, and Noel Santiago Garza Jr, 24, were each sentenced to 50 years to life in prison on Friday, August 7, 2009, for the 2006 murder of Guadalupe Tapia Hernandez.

"Gang rivalries harm our communities, endanger innocent people and create a widespread climate of fear," said District Attorney Rod Pacheco. "We deal with these gang members very seriously because everyone deserves to live free from the fear and violence that gangs create."

On June 6, 2006, a group of gang members were hanging out in Agua Caliente Park in Cathedral City. Hernandez had tagged the park's gazebo causing a territorial gang dispute between Hernandez and Jose Giron. Hernandez and Giron fought in the park twice, each time Hernandez emerged as the winner.

After the second fight, Jose Giron made a phone call and minutes later Noel Garza arrived at the park in a truck. Noel Garza handed a gun to Jose Giron and he opened fire on Hernandez. Hernandez was shot in the elbow and the back and fell to the ground. Juan Flores and Angel Giron began to punch, kick and hit Hernandez as he laid on the ground gasping for air.

Flores and Garza, both of Cathedral City, were arrested and charged with murder. On June 2, 2009, a Riverside County jury convicted them of first-degree murder with allegations that the murder was committed on behalf of a criminal street gang. Angel and Jose Giron have been charged with murder but have not been apprehended. They were named to the Riverside County's Most Wanted Fugitive list on February 28, 2008.

The case, INF055962, was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kristi Daw. "This case represents how petty, yet devastating, gang violence is in our communities," said Daw. "Because of a simple act of graffiti tagging a family lost a son and brother and broke the bond of life-long friendships."