Tri-Cities man faces decades in prison for killing a gang rival in a passing car
A gang member will be heading to prison for killing a rival in a shootout just a few blocks from the Kennewick police station.
A Benton County jury took about three hours on Tuesday to decide that Ramon A. Candido, 28, is guilty of second-degree murder and illegally possessing a gun.
Candido was accused of opening fire on two rival gang members at the intersection of First Avenue and Dayton Street on April 20, 2022. He killed 25-year-old Ezekiel Sanchez.
In addition, the jurors found he used a firearm and showed an egregious lack of remorse in his crime. Both could add years to his sentence.
His presumed sentencing range is 21 to 29 years, Deputy Prosecutor Brittnie Roehm told the Herald. That includes an additional five years for using a gun in his crime.
Prosecutors may ask for more time beyond Washington’s standard range, but that hasn’t been decided, she said.
A date for the sentencing hearing has not been set.
Prosecutors argued during the 2-week trial that Candido was a hardened gang member who took an opportunity to kill a rival.
Defense attorneys and Candido tried to say he was trying to defend himself and his family from the two rivals who were looking to harm him.
Sanchez had previously been accused of being part of a group of gang members who shot and killed a pregnant woman in Kennewick in 2019.
Downtown Kennewick shooting
Candido’s trial focused on what happened when two cars arrived at the same Kennewick intersection of First Avenue and Dayton Street.
Alexis Talavera-Gonzalez was driving a Kia Sorrento, with Sanchez was in the passenger seat. They’d spent the afternoon at Coyote Bob’s casino.
Candido was driving a Chrysler Pacifica. His then girlfriend, now wife, Beatriz Terrazas, was in the passenger seat, and her 4-year-old daughter was in the back.
When they crossed paths, Candido fired a shot that hit and killed Sanchez, Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge said during opening statements.
Candido took off and fired another shot at the men. Talavera-Gonzalez initially chased after him before heading toward an emergency room on Highway 395 and 19th Avenue.
Medical workers ran to the car and took Sanchez out, but weren’t able to save him.
Self-defense
Terrazas and Candido testified at the trial that Sanchez and Talavera-Gonzalez were yelling and threatening them.
Terrazas testified that while she didn’t see the other men with guns, she saw them reaching for something.
She crawled into the backseat to protect her daughter, she testified, and heard the shot, but didn’t see anyone get hit.
Defense attorney Hayden Sebald pointed out during opening statements that the three men used to be part of the same gang until Candido split off to join a rival group.
Sanchez had been part of a group caught on camera, who stalked and killed a 20-year-old woman walking with her boyfriend in an east Kennewick neighborhood.
According to one person initially accused in the shooting, Sanchez fired shots at 20-year-old Andrea Nuñez but he was never charged with the crime.