VISTA — A Vista jury convicted Jose Ulices Luna on Thursday of second-degree murder and several other charges following almost two weeks of testimony.
Luna was tried for a July 2024 shooting that left one young man dead and three others wounded, as well as a separate carjacking and robbery about a month later.
Sheriff’s deputies 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 19-year-old Antonio Junior Calderon 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.
The victims had traveled together to attend a birthday party at a Newport Terrace apartment, according to a prosecution trial brief. When they pulled up to the home, Luna approached their vehicle and opened fire on its occupants, prosecutors wrote.
Mendiola was sitting in the front passenger seat, closest to the shooter. Prosecutors described the shooting as gang-motivated.
Luna, now 22, was arrested Aug. 28, 2024, after robbing a group of teens in Vista, stealing their vehicle and leading police on a chase that ended when he crashed, according to prosecutors. He has been held without bail since then. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office formally filed charges against him on Jan. 14, 2025.
After Luna’s arrest, witnesses who had seen him at the birthday party identified him to Mendiola’s family, according to the trial brief. Detectives later searched Luna’s home and found a spent shell casing in a vehicle that matched those recovered at the shooting scene, prosecutors wrote.
Detectives also recovered the gun during a search of a vehicle occupied by two of Luna’s fellow gang members, according to the brief.
In addition to second-degree murder, Luna was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, carjacking, four counts of robbery and evading arrest. Jurors also found the firearm allegations true.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Hardy, who prosecuted the case, said Luna faces life in prison when he returns to court on Feb. 8 for sentencing.
