“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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According to their plea agreements, the two teenagers, then 15-year-olds Andrew “Shooter/Felon” Nunez and Johncarlo “Dumper” Quintero, are members of the Mexican Mafia-affiliated Westside Wilmas gang from the greater Los Angeles area.
They admitted they were tapped to kill the target because they were under the age of 16 at the time, which made them ineligible to be prosecuted as adults in California under a law passed in 2018. Each gang member expected to be paid approximately $50,000, prosecutors said. But they failed in two attempts.
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Targeting “El Apache”
On March 26, 2024, the young gang members drove from their homes in Wilmington, California some 120 miles to find their target at a Chili’s restaurant in Chula Vista, a suburb south of San Diego. When their target was leaving the restaurant with his family around 8:50 PM, Johncarlo Quintero got out of the car and fired a single shot that struck ‘Victim 1’ in the leg. Quintero’s weapon then jammed, and he was unable to shoot ‘Victim 1’ again.
At the time, the Tijuana-based news publication Zeta Tijuana revealed that the man (Victim 1) shot was allegedly the Cartel Arellano Felix (CAF) figure James Bryant Corona, better known as “El Apache.”
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| Apache, allegedly the right hand man of Tijuana cartel figure Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuño, “El Flaquito.” |
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the target was James Bryant Corona, an alleged leader of a Tijuana based drug cell and is a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen. There are also numerous San Diego based transportation trucks and companies registered to Corona.
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Apartment Shooting
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| Ricardo Sanchez, also of Wilmington, was shot and killed when the trio attempted to kill Corona at his apartment. |
At 1:30 AM, on Wednesday, March 27, a 911 emergency call was made by a woman who reported that her “friend” had just been shot and was bleeding.
Officers were dispatched to her location, which was the Salerno Luxury Rentals apartment complex on the 1300 Block of Calle Verona in Chula Vista.
The two teenagers pleaded guilty in federal court to two attempted murder charges and the murder of their accomplice, which prosecutors called a “provocative-act murder,” meaning their actions were responsible for their accomplices death.
Teenage Hitmen Exploited
They also admitted they were tapped to murder Corona because they were minors and, specifically, only 15 at the time (they are currently 16 and 17-years old). According to admissions in their plea agreements, the defendants knew that if they were caught that they were ineligible to be transferred to adult status under the laws of the State of California because they were under the age of 16 at the time of the shootings.
Nunez and Quintero had talked about not being able to “catch a…707” after being arrested because of their age at the time, which referred to not being subject to adult transfer under California Welfare & Institutions Code Section 707.
However, because the murder and attempted murder were federally prosecuted due to the gang and cartel ties, the pair were charged as adults and pleaded guilty to attempted murder in aid of racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering which can carry a punishment of life in prison or the death penalty.
Westside Wilmas 13 Gang History
Part of the guilty plea had the pair of teens admit that their actions were done to promote their standing within the Westside Wilmas gang, which also engages in drug trafficking, weapons distribution and more, prosecutors said.
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| A 2023 indictment charged several Mexican Mafia members, associates and Wilmas gang members. |
Law enforcement believes each of the Wilmas gangs are controlled by separate Mexican Mafia members who are serving life sentences in a California state prison after each being convicted of murder. One Mexican Mafia associate directed firearm and drug sales from prison despite being sentenced to death for murder. Many of the shot callers and leaders have access to illegal cell phones and other digital devices that they use to communicate with gang members on the outside.
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| A mural at Will Hall Park traces the rivalry and temporary truce between the two Wilmas gang factions. |
