CARLSBAD: Man who shot fellow gang member sentenced

A young man who accidentally shot and killed a fellow gang member during a fight with rivals at a Carlsbad park was sentenced on Wednesday to 31 years in state prison.

Javier Antonio Lopez, 21, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and a firearm allegation in the April 4, 2009, killing of 21-year-old Juan Carlos Balderas.

Police said Lopez, Balderas, Victor Virjilio Lopez and Jose Angel Barraza ---- members of an Encinitas gang ---- went to the park to fight rival gang members.

Balderas was accidentally shot by Lopez during the attempted murder of a rival, Deputy District Attorney Geoff Allard said.

Barraza, 28, who also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, was sentenced today to 24 years behind bars.

Victor Lopez ---- Javier's cousin ---- testified at an earlier preliminary that members of his gang went to Carlsbad that night to shoot a rival from a Carlsbad gang as payback for the non-fatal shooting of a younger family member by a Carlsbad gangster several weeks earlier.

Victor Lopez, 23, also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.


