Boy, 14, sentenced for murder of Modesto taco truck owner. Why he could get out sooner

A boy who was 13 when he murdered a 67-year-old taco truck owner in Modesto’s airport neighborhood has been sentenced to confinement in juvenile hall until the age of 24. However, he could be released much sooner if a judge finds his rehabilitative needs are met.

“It is now my duty to impose a fair and just sentence … and it is my duty to do so in a way that protects society, but certainly in a way that returns you into the community in a rehabilitated fashion, and it’s my duty to do so in the least restrictive way possible,” Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Rubén Villalobos told the boy during a hearing on Wednesday.

The boy shot and killed 67-year-old Rafael Avila-Rodriguez, who was in his truck outside the Airport Market, on the evening of Feb. 16, 2021. Villalobos convicted the boy of murder in April, following a trial that included video evidence, cell phone records and identifying clothing.

A motive was never determined. The prosecution floated the idea that the boy was trying to rob Avila-Rodriguez, but only seven seconds elapsed from the time the boy got to the order window of the food truck to the time he shot the victim in the face.

“Rather, the video strikes of a completely senseless act of violence,” Villalobos said in April.

Due to his age, the boy could not be prosecuted as an adult. Juveniles over the age of 15 can be prosecuted as adults and if convicted of murder face sentences of 25 years to life in prison. Minors convicted of any crime in juvenile court can only be incarcerated up to the age of 25, when they age out of juvenile court jurisdiction.

The Stanislaus County Probation Department recommended the boy be released from juvenile hall at 24 so that he could be put on probation for a year and his progress and integration back into society can be monitored.

The minor will be put on an “individualized rehabilitation plan” that will afford him the rehabilitative, life skills and educational programs in juvenile hall and his progress will be reviewed every six months.

“I am not taking you and warehousing you away until you are 24 because you committed a horrific crime,” Villalobos said. What I’m doing is imposing a sentence that is commensurate to the crime, that will allow for rehabilitation and that will also bring you back before this court so you can show me what you’ve done to rehabilitate yourself and to determine whether you need to be in custody until age 24 because frankly, you may be getting out of custody much sooner than that.”

No matter when he is released, the boy will remain on probation until the age of 25.

Villalobos told the boy he wants to see him out of custody sooner so there is more time for the court to monitor how he handles struggles, adversity and successes in the community. He told him he has complete faith in his ability to be rehabilitated.

The judge also said while he accepts that the boy does not agree with his conviction, he doesn’t accept the disrespect he’s shown in the past.

Asked by a probation officer about his feelings on the offense, the minor replied, “I believe it’s bulls---. The judge needs to pull his head out of his ass and the DA needs to do a better job of finding out who did this s---.”

Villalobos addressed this during the original sentencing hearing in June. While the sentencing was continued that day, the family of Avila-Rodriguez still gave victim impact statements.

Avila-Rodriguez’s family members attended nearly every court hearing over the past 18 months. They included his brother-in-law, Elias Rosas Garcia.

“Every time that I came here to court I expected to see some sort of remorse from him, Rosas Garcia said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I don’t know if he has remorse or not but I am hoping when he is released he is rehabilitated. I don’t want anyone else to go through what we did.”

Avila-Rodriguez lived with his sister and Rosas Garcia, who described their home as humble and harmonious.

Every morning they would sit and have coffee together before beginning work.

“We still have that chair (where he sat to have coffee),” Rosas Garcia said. “I still look at it and it is something very difficult for us. And I tell my children, ‘Please partake in that activity every morning.’”

He spoke of the struggles his wife has faced since her brother’s death. “I heard my wife in a dream saying, ‘Little brother I’m here, I am here,’ Rosas Garcia said. “And I would look at her and I knew no one was going to reply.”

Avila-Rodriguez’s sister and two of his nieces spoke during the hearing. While they all spoke of the pain the minor has inflicted on their family, they also spoke of forgiveness.

“We the family do not hold a grudge against this young man,” Rosas Garcia said. “We’re not God and we don’t have the power to judge anyone. That is why there is God.”