Retrial proceedings are scheduled to begin Wednesday for the murder trial of two men accused of severely beating and ultimately gunning down a 36-year-old Hemet man.
Alberto Franco, 27, of Hemet and Christian Anselmo Gomez, 46, of Homeland are accused in the 2020 slaying of Salvador Alvarez Cortez.
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Both defendants are charged with first-degree murder, assault resulting in great bodily injury and attempted kidnapping, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations. Franco is additionally charged with attempted carjacking.
The men were on trial in August when Gomez's attorney became ill and was unable to continue, prompting Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton to declare a mistrial and dismiss the jury.
A new panel must be selected for the retrial.
Each defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to the prosecution, Franco and Gomez allegedly targeted Cortez because he had stolen property from Gomez, and the defendant wanted revenge, with Franco's help.
On the evening of Nov. 2, 2020, the pair found the victim at a residence adjacent to a strip mall in the 200 block of Stetson Avenue, near Magnolia Circle, and cornered him inside the garage.
Prosecutors allege that Franco and Gomez pummeled the victim with metal pipes until he was able to escape, running to the mall, where he collapsed in front of a Mexican restaurant.
Customers and employees came out to check on Cortez, whom one witness described as "having his head caved in" from the beating, according to the prosecution's trial brief.
As the witnesses began calling 911, the defendants allegedly drove into the parking lot in Franco's Dodge Durango and confronted the victim again, with Gomez emerging from the SUV armed with an AR-15 rifle, the brief said.
People took refuge in the restaurant, as well as in their vehicles.
"The defendants then tried to grab the victim and pull him towards the Durango, which he fought," according to court papers. "Two separate cellphone videos captured the next events. As Franco was pulling and fighting with the victim to get into the car, Gomez shot him. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain, and Gomez continued to fire shots into him, a total of 15 times."
Cortez died at the scene.
The defendants fled the location in the SUV, and a witness gave chase, trailing them until they stopped in the middle of the street, and Franco allegedly leveled the AR-15 at him, at which point the man sped away, prosecutors said.
According to Hemet Police Department Lt. Nathan Miller, Franco lost control of the Durango moments later and slammed into a brick feature outside a residence in the 1400 block of South Palm Avenue, causing the SUV's engine to fail. The defendants ran away southbound.
Patrol officers began a search for the pair, which ended in the predawn hours the following day, when both were located hiding on Coral Avenue, where they were taken into custody without incident.
Neither defendant has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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