A bar fight turned shooting landed a 28-year-old man in prison for more than a year.
Nearly two years after Oscar Gonzalez drove a suspected shooter away from outside of Kahlua’s Bar in Pasco, his attorney Mia Mendoza said he is sorry for his part in the shooting.
“Your honor, in the light of day, with clarity, I know my client would have made very different choices. I think beginning with not even being at Kahlua’s to begin with,” she said during his sentencing hearing Thursday morning.
Gonzalez, who was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, pleaded guilty in Franklin County Superior Court to first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Astley explained prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Gonzalez knew that Carlos Tapia Torres was going to start shooting.
Torres remains charged with first-degree attempted murder and drive-by shooting for his part in the crime. A $250,000 nationwide arrest warrant was issued for him in March 2023.
Gonzalez faced a sentencing range of between a year and a year and two months. The attorneys recommended a sentence at the minimum end of the range.
Nancy Aquino, the mother of the victim’s six children, said the shooting had left her family broken and a wound that has never healed.
“The sentence that has been given to him feels like a mockery of our pain. Why he may serve his time and move on, my child is left without both parents under the same roof, and our family has been shattered in ways that can never be fully repaired,” Aquino wrote in a statement that was read Thursday.
While the attorneys recommended a year in prison, Judge Jackie Shea Brown went to the maximum end of the range.
“My focus is not necessary on what a bitter pill it is for you to swallow, to go to prison, given Manuel Luna’s circumstances and Miss Aquino’s circumstances and their family circumstances,” she said. “The reason why it’s so important is that vehicle drove by those people and stopped sufficiently for that person to get out and shoot.
“You had options then to move on and not stop.”
Pasco Shooting
Manuel Luna, and a friend, Victor Paz, were walking out of Kahlua’s Bar and Lounge after Paz reported being punched during a fight inside on Dec. 19, 2022.
Torres was also part of the fight inside and needed to be pulled away by another friend.
Security video shows Gonzalez’s Dodge Ram pull up to Manuel and Paz outside of the bar, and Torres allegedly got out and shot several times at the the men, court documents said.
He then got back into the truck, which drove away.
Luna was taken to a local hospital, where he spent several days recovering. Aquino stayed with him in the hospital through Christmas.
“I didn’t even feel safe in my own home because the shooter was involved with someone who had recently been at our house,” she said. “Even now, I struggle to sleep, constantly fearing that they might have come back.”
She said the Christmas season should have been a time for spending time together, but it became a time for fear.
The experience left the couple full of anger, resentment and confusion, and ended up leading to them splitting up.
Luna went through immense physical and emotional pain following the shooting, Aquino said.
“The bullet that remains lodged in his mouth has caused permanent damage to his teeth, a constant reminder of what happened,” she said. “The ripple effects of that night are still felt every day.”
‘Very sorry’
Several members of Gonzalez’s family, including his two children, joined him in the courtroom, and watched quietly as he pleaded guilty to the crime.
Mendoza explained that the shooting that night had affected Gonzalez’s family as well.
“This entire situation began as a bar fight ... that was what my client knowingly and voluntarily participated in,” she said. “The shooting part of this is all together a different situation.”
Gonzalez wasn’t aware that Torres was going to start shooting, and his mistake was to not leave when the shooting started.
“He is very, very, very sorry for his part in this,” she said. “We’re both very happy that (Luna) has made a recovery.”
Gonzalez chose not to speak during the hearing.
No choice to be shot
Shea Brown pointed out that Luna didn’t make the choice to be shot, and he is paying the price with how it has affected his life.
In part, he was affected because of the choices Gonzalez made, the judge said.
“I want you to think back to when you could have made different choices than you made. The reason I think that is important ... is because you need to know for yourself what kind of person you are and what kind of decisions you’re going to make in crisis situations,” Shea Brown said.
She urged him to consider whether he’s going to be a good person who does the right thing for his family or just someone who “mishmashes” through life.
Gonzalez could have continued driving without letting Torres get out, she said. He is now being held accountable for his actions.
“Here’s what you have to do. You give it your all and you become a better person, and if you do that, then you’ve honored yourself and this justice system and I hope you do.”
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