DA charges three with murder

Camarillo resident fatally shot in Santa Barbara



ARRESTS MADE—Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf is where Camarillo resident Robert Gutierrez was shot. Police said he was caught in the line of fire intended for someone else. Five people were arrested in connection with the shooting.

ARRESTS MADE—Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf is where Camarillo resident Robert Gutierrez was shot. Police said he was caught in the line of fire intended for someone else. Five people were arrested in connection with the shooting.

Three men who authorities say are connected to a Santa Barbara gang have been charged with the killing of Camarillo resident Robert Gutierrez, according to the Santa Barbara district attorney’s office.

Around 8:40 p.m. Dec. 9, Santa Barbara police officers and harbor patrol responded to a report of a shooting at Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara’s drive-on pier, near Cabrillo Boulevard.

Officers said they found a man, later identified as 52-year-old Gutierrez, who had been shot. He received immediate medical attention then was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

Gutierrez died at the hospital Dec. 20.

The arrest came five days before Gutierrez’s loved ones said their final goodbyes to their father, husband and friend.

Gutierrez’s funeral was held Jan. 24 at Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo, where he volunteered.

In a eulogy, a close friend described Gutierrez as a family man.

“Robert loved his family with every fiber of his being,” Umrao Mayer said during the livestreamed service. “He married the love of his life and raised two incredible young women. He cared deeply for his mother, father and sister, and made it a priority to see them often. He looked after his wife’s parents and brother like they were his own.”

A Colorado native, Gutierrez earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado Boulder. He later received his master’s degree in public health from UCLA, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Gutierrez founded BrightStar Care of Conejo Valley, a Thousand Oaks-based in-home care company, in 2011.

“My heart is in providing our loved ones with the highest-quality senior living care possible,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

After serving as the executive director of Aasta Assisted Living of Camarillo, he accepted a position in August as executive director of Clearwater at Glendora, an assisted-living and memory support community in Los Angeles County.

“I think I speak for every person that knew him when I say that he was the kindest, most humble, most gentle, most loving, sincere man we ever met. . . .” Mayer said during the service. “Robert was the kind of person we all strive to be, the kind of person that truly made the world a better place.”

Arrests

Because Gutierrez’s death was the direct result of the gunshot wound, police said, the department launched a homicide investigation.

On Jan. 19, the Santa Barbara Police Department arrested four Santa Barbara residents in connection with the killing: 22-year-old Jiram Tenorio Ramon, 20-year-old Ricardo Jauregui Moreno, 21-year-old Christopher Miranda and 21-year-old James Rosborough.

According to reporting by the Santa Barbara Independent, court documents show that one or more of the four men, who police said were driving on the wharf, shot at a group of pedestrians but instead injured Gutierrez, who was standing nearby.

“It appears Mr. Gutierrez was an innocent bystander when the shooting occurred,” the police department said in a written statement.

Tenorio Ramon, Jauregui-Moreno and Miranda were charged with murder, with the special allegation of committing the murder to benefit a criminal street gang, as well as conspiracy to commit murder and criminal street gang conspiracy.

Court records show Tenorio Ramon was the only one of the four defendants charged with the special allegation of personal use of a firearm causing death.

Rosborough was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, criminal street gang conspiracy and accessory after the fact, according to court records.

A 16-year-old, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was arrested and booked at the Juvenile Justice Center in Santa Maria on suspicion of possessing a firearm as a minor, police said.

The four men are being held at Santa Barbara County Main Jail and are not eligible for bail.

They appeared in court Jan. 23 for arraignment.

Jauregui-Moreno’s arraignment was continued to Feb. 1, and Tenorio Ramon and Miranda’s were continued to Feb. 17. Rosborough’s next court date was not determined.

As of Jan. 26, none of the co-defendants had entered pleas.

The Santa Barbara Police Department and the Santa Barbara district attorney’s office declined to discuss the case while it’s still under investigation.

The Santa Barbara Police Department encourages anyone with information about the case to call (805) 882-8900 or (805) 897-2343.

Support

Gutierrez’s loved ones created a GoFundMe page to collect donations for his family, including his wife, Gerallie, and daughters, Ariana and Carisa. The page has raised more than $40,000.

“This tragedy has come as a shock to all of us, and the grief and sorrow from the loss of Robert is incomprehensible for the Gutierrez family,” the page reads.

“While we may not be able to take away their emotional pain, we would like to take away some of their financial burden and stress at this time.”