A 17-year-old Hollister youth will be tried as an adult on
attempted murder charges stemming from his alleged role in the June
7 stabbing outside the Quik Stop Market on San Juan Road.
A 17-year-old Hollister youth will be tried as an adult on attempted murder charges stemming from his alleged role in the June 7 stabbing outside the Quik Stop Market on San Juan Road.
Raymond Martin Galvan, who will turn 18 in mid-September, has been charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted second-degree robbery and a gang-related enhancement.
“We did a direct filing as an adult,” San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield said.
Sarsfield said he could not comment on the details of the case.
In the past, someone younger than 18 could only be tried as an adult with the approval of a judge in what was called a fitness hearing, which reviewed the evidence and determined if the juvenile’s crime deserved to be treated as an adult.
Several years ago, the state Legislature approved a change in the law that allows the district attorney’s office to evaluate the case and charge a youth over 16 directly as an adult.
Galvan joins Ruben Mendoza, 21, Marco Mendoza, 18, also of Hollister, as the three primary suspects in the stabbing at 1300 San Juan Road that left Ernesto Lopez, 23, wounded and bleeding in the street.
Galvan and both Mendozas are currently being held in San Benito County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
If they are tried and convicted, they could be sentenced up to 20 years in state prison, according to the California Penal Code.
Galvan and the Mendozas are scheduled to be arraigned on the four felony counts against them in Superior Court on Tuesday.
The three suspects are accused of attacking Lopez as he walked across a field next to the Quik Stop to use a pay phone.
Lopez told police that he was attacked by the trio after they demanded money from him. When Lopez refused to give them money, the three men allegedly started hitting him and a fight ensued.
As the fight continued with Lopez desperately trying to keep this attackers at bay near the San Juan Road entrance to Quik Stop, the suspects allegedly stabbed him repeatedly in the abdomen and upper torso area, police said.
As Lopez fell bleeding to the pavement, an off-duty Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy pulled up to the scene, which sent the suspects fleeing through the field, witnesses said.
Lopez sustained traumatic injuries to his face, arms and chest. He had been stabbed numerous times with an unknown object, police said.
Approximately 15 minutes after the initial call for help, Hollister police officers arrested the three suspects near the intersection of Central Avenue and Graf Road, according to court records.
The investigation into the stabbing is ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding the stabbing is asked to call Detective David Godoy, or the Hollister Police Department’s on-duty watch commander at 636-4330.
