Judge Orders Port Hueneme Murder Defendant To Stand Trial

Saturday May 21, 2022

     A Ventura County judge has ordered a Port Hueneme murder defendant to stand trial in connection with a fatal shooting that happened on the 4th of July almost 5 years ago.

     The ruling came after a three-day preliminary hearing for 22-year-old Luis Antonio Gonzales of Port Hueneme.

     Gonzales was 17-years-old when 16-year-old Gerardo Sandoval of Oxnard was found in the 2700 block of Bolker Drive in Port Hueneme on the night of July 4, 2017.

     Sandoval had been shot multiple times and was rushed to VCMC where he died several days later.

     Gonzales was arrested and his case was initially in Juvenile Court, but a judge agreed with prosecutors that he should be tried as an adult.

     He is charged with murder and faces a special allegation that it involved the use of a firearm.

     Gonzales, who is now 22, remains in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $750,000.

     The preliminary hearing was unusual in that the defense presented witnesses and some of the testimony was sealed by the court.