The family of a Hollister man who was shot to death at a local car wash in February has filed a lawsuit claiming the owners of the business where the crime occurred are responsible for the homicide.
Efrain Amezcua, 48, was allegedly shot and killed by Jose Angel Valdez following an altercation at Hillcrest Car & RV Wash on Feb. 9. Valdez initially fled the scene of the shooting, but was arrested later that day after law enforcement officers used his vehicle information to locate him, according to authorities.
The civil lawsuit was filed on Dec. 16—the same day that Valdez was held to answer for criminal charges related to the homicide at a hearing at the courthouse in Hollister.
Valdez appeared for a preliminary hearing on the criminal allegations at San Benito County Superior Court. A judge determined at the conclusion of the Dec. 16 hearing that Valdez must face a trial on the allegation that he killed Amezcua, District Attorney Joel Buckingham said.
Valdez is scheduled for arraignment on new charges at a July 9, 2025, hearing. Buckingham said he has not yet determined what charge or charges his office will file but will announce such information before the arraignment.
Valdez remains in custody at the county jail without bail. The suspect was initially booked on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter with a firearm shortly after his February arrest.
Amezcua’s wife filed the civil lawsuit against 421 Hillcrest Road LLC, the owner of the car wash, on behalf of herself and the couple’s three minor children, says the complaint. According to the lawsuit, the business owners “were aware of the fact that there was a culture of loitering, drug dealing and gang-related activity at and around Hillcrest Car Wash.”
Hillcrest Car Wash has not responded to a request for comment, left by this newspaper via a phone voicemail. As of Dec. 17 it is unclear if the business owner had been served with the legal action.
The lawsuit accuses the car wash owners of premises liability, wrongful death and negligence. Amezcua’s family is seeking unspecified general and special damages, as well as funeral and burial expenses, loss of earnings and other relief, says the complaint.
“Plaintiffs, by reason of the incident, and of the negligence and carelessness of Defendants, have been deprived and will continue to be deprived of a kind and loving husband and
father, and of his love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society,
moral support, training and guidance, all to their damage in a sum in excess of the minimum
jurisdictional limits of this Court,” says the lawsuit.
Amezcua was a construction worker and had never been involved in gang activity, says the complaint, which was filed by attorney Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at MSD Lawyers. Amezcua and Valdez knew each other through the relationship between their daughters, who are approximately the same age and attended school together.
The lawsuit claims that Valdez’s daughter had “bullied” Amezcua’s daughter at Hollister High School starting in 2019.
On Feb. 9, according to the lawsuit, Valdez called Amezcua over to his vehicle, and surveillance video shows the men arguing before Valdez pulled out a gun and shot Amezcua about four times.
The video shows Valdez walking away, but then returning to shoot Amezcua in his chest three or four more times before fleeing, says a Dec. 16 press release sent by MSD Lawyers.
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene and treated Amezcua with first-aid lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said in February.
“Efrain was the victim of an unthinkable crime committed in a business location that was prone to violence,” Dowlatshahi said in the press release. “The owners knew or should have known about the criminal activity and had a duty to make their premises safe from this continual danger. Their failure to do so cost Efrain his life.”
The press release adds that Hillcrest Car Wash was previously the scene of another deadly altercation in 2002, when a customer was beaten to death by a suspect with a pipe. That suspect was arrested in 2016, says the press release.
According to legal experts, businesses and other “deep pocket” defendants—who have ongoing business revenues and insurance policies—are often named by plaintiffs’ attorneys in civil lawsuits where more directly responsible parties have few assets in order to increase their chances of winning awards or damages.
“If the person at fault for the death of your loved one is so poor that they do not have any money and do not own a home, car, or other similar assets, there is no way to collect your judgment,” according to Shelley Leeke Law Firm. “The way around this is called the ‘deep pockets’ method. The deep pockets method is a method by which your attorney will sue any person or company that had anything to do with the accident. Hopefully, this way, you will be able to obtain a judgment against someone who can actually pay you.”
