VISTA — A case stemming from an armed carjacking that left one young man dead and three others wounded by gunfire is headed to trial more than two years after the shooting.
Jose Ulices Luna, 22, is set to stand trial beginning Monday at the Vista Courthouse. Luna is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Antonio Junior Calderon Mendiola, three counts of attempted murder, four counts of robbery, plus carjacking, evading arrest and driving the wrong way on a freeway.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said it received a 911 call from a cellphone near Civic Center Drive in Vista around 2:30 a.m. July 20, 2024. Shortly afterward, four male victims, including Mendiola, arrived at Palomar Hospital in Escondido with gunshot wounds. Mendiola later died of his injuries at the hospital. The other three victims were 16, 17 and 18.
Luna was arrested Aug. 28, 2024, and has been held without bail since then. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office formally filed charges against Luna on Jan. 14, 2025.
