A man was sentenced to prison after being accused of shooting into an apartment and killing three, including a sleeping toddler, nearly 24 years ago, California prosecutors say.
Sergio Contreras, 47, was “sentenced to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 75 years to life” in relation to the fatal 2000 apartment shooting, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 11 news release.
An attorney representing Contreras did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on July 12.
During his trial, Contreras’ defense argued there was no forensic evidence tying him to the shooting, adding that the case against him was largely based on claims from Contreas’ associate who “had reasons to lie,” City News Service reported.
Contreras is accused of shooting into a San Diego apartment on Labor Day in September 2000 “after one of the residents failed to pay for a small amount of illegal drugs,” prosecutors say.
Michael Plummer, 27, owed Contreras $30 for methamphetamine, prosecutors said, City News Service reported.
When he fired the shots, Contreras hit Plummer; Plummer’s girlfriend, Adah Pearson, 18; and Plummer’s nephew, Julio Rangel Jr., 21 months old, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in 2023.
Plummer was struck “more than a dozen times,” while Pearson was shot in the heart as she slept on the couch, prosecutors said.
The gunfire struck Julio as he slept “on a bed in the next room,” according to prosecutors.
Plummer died on scene, while Pearson and Julio were taken to hospitals, where they later died, San Diego police said in a March 2023 news release.
After the shootings, “Contreras fled and (the) case went cold for several years,” prosecutors said.
Though Contreras was a suspect from the outset, officials could not file murder charges against him until 2007 when a witness came forward, prosecutors said.
Detectives believed Contreras fled to Mexico, police said, adding that they worked with the district attorney’s office to have a warrant issued for his arrest.
Contreras was booked into jail in Mexico on unrelated robbery and murder charges, prosecutors said.
He was extradited from Mexico into San Diego police custody on March 22, 2023, police said.
A jury found Contreras guilty of three first-degree murder counts in May, City News Service reported.
“When a murder is unsolved for decades, it takes an enormous toll on the victim’s loved ones, but now the families of Michael Plummer, Adah Pearson and Julio Rangel Jr. have a measure of justice after many years of mourning their loss,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in the release.
Heidi Plummer , Julio’s aunt and Plummer’s sister, told KNSD after Contreas’ arrest in 2023 that her family is “missing them every day.”
“We miss him so much,” Heidi Plummer told the outlet of Julio. “He was a character of his own. He was our baby.”
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