Suspected gang member to face jury trial in 2021 fatal shooting in Reedley
Suspected gang member Fabian Portillo will be put on trial for the murder of 25-year-old Jacob Encinia who was gunned just hours after lighting fireworks for his family in northeast Reedley, a Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.
Reedley police believe the 25-year-old Portillo was looking for a human target on the night of July 4, 2021 as he slowly cruised through the eastside neighborhoods of Reedley in his black Chrysler 300.
Several witnesses who testified at Portillo’s preliminary hearing said they saw a car matching Portillo’s driving slowing in the area of E. Ann Drive and N. Columbia Avenue at about 10 p.m.
One witness, who parked in the area briefly to drop off his brother, said Portillo drove up next to him and asked what gang he was affiliated with, “Norteño or Sureno?”
“I didn’t know what he was talking about,” said David Palomo in Spanish. “I said I’m Mexican.”
Palomo said the vehicle pulled away from the curb and started turning north, but hesitated and then began turning right.
Celina Lopez, who is Encinia’s mother-in-law, testified that the driver of the Chrysler appeared to change direction after he saw her son-in-law.
Lopez said Encinia was on his phone and getting ready to walk his nephew across the street, when she saw the man in the black Chrysler talking to her son, Giovanni.
Jacob saw it too, she said.
“Then I hear Jacob say to his brother-in-law, is everything all right?” Lopez said.
Prosecutor Kendall Reynolds asked Lopez if she heard what the man said and she said no. In her interview with Reedley police, Lopez said she heard the words Sanger and sur, the Spanish word for South.
She then heard five to six shots and saw the flash of gunfire. She ran to her grandkids to help protect them.
Under cross examination by Michael McKneely, Lopez was reluctant to say whether Encinia had gang ties. She objected to McKneely asking the question.
“Are you afraid to say that he (Jacob) is in a rival gang?” McKneely asked.
“Okay, yes, Jacob was a Norteño,” Lopez said.
Portillo remains in the Fresno County Jail. He returns to court on Aug. 10 for an arraignment.
