Oxnard Man To Spend The Rest Of His Life In Prison For Gang Related Killing

Friday April 12, 2024

(Calderon photos courtesy VCDA)

     Updated--An Oxnard man is going to spend the rest of his life in prison for the gang-related killing of an innocent, non gang member, victim.

      The judge Friday sentenced 31-year-old David Calderon to Life in Prison without the Possibility of Parole, plus 27-years-to-life, for the shotgun slaying of 19-year-old Edwin Herrera of Oxnard.

      Prosecutors say it was a random attack in February of 2012 designed by Calderon to restore his credibility with his gang.

     Herrera was a totally innocent victim, not a gang member, who was shot when he went to move his vehicle in front of his home in the 2000 block of San Benito Street to avoid getting a parking ticket.

     The jury spent less than a day in deliberations before convicting Calderon of First Degree Murder.

     A Special Circumstance Allegation that the killing was gang related was also found true along with three other special allegations.

      They say after the killing Calderon was seen calmly walking into a restaurant and buying a pizza.

     Police ultimately linked Calderon to the killing in part through the unique type ammunition used. 

     That evidence plus video of him buying the shotgun used in the killing and information from a jail inmate that Calderon bragged about the killing went a long way towards obtaining a guilty verdict.  

     Meanwhile, Calderon's accomplice in the killing, 31-year-old Carlos Eduardo Hernandez of Oxnard, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing on June 18th.