Nampa man was accused of killing ‘innocent bystander.’ Jury reaches verdict
A man on trial for allegedly shooting “an innocent bystander” outside a Nampa Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot in 2022 was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Canyon County jury this week.
After a trial that lasted over a week, the jury on Thursday unanimously found 25-year-old Brian Moreno guilty of killing Joe Flores, 23. The jury also found Moreno guilty of a gang sentencing enhancement, according to a release from the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Idaho Statesman previously reported that on Sept. 1, 2022, the Nampa Police Department responded to a report of a shooting at a business in the 2100 block of North Cassia Street. Police found Flores, of Caldwell, in the parking lot with gunshot wounds and began performing life-saving measures, but he died at the scene.
Following the incident, six people were charged with various crimes related to the shooting, Moreno among them. According to court documents, police found indications of gang violence tied to the shooting.
Gang enhancements can be added to any charge if the person “knowingly committed for the benefit or at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal gang or criminal gang member,” according to the Idaho Criminal Gang Enforcement Act.
The law states that prosecutors may ask for up to a year of additional jail time for a misdemeanor with a gang enhancement. For a felony, a minimum of two years and a maximum of five are added.
Flores was “an innocent bystander, caught in the crossfire, during an incident derived from a gang dispute,” and not a member of a gang, police said in a previous press release.
Court documents showed that a cellphone video showed members of two gangs in the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot. In the video, one person could be heard calling out derogatory names, and another person told Moreno to get a gun before three shots rang out.
Moreno’s sentencing is set for May 8 at 9 a.m. before Canyon County Judge Gabriel McCarthy.
Lazaro Vela, 18, of Nampa, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and rioting. He originally pleaded not guilty and his case is ongoing.
Pedro Navarro Jr., 21, of Caldwell, was charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder, rioting, and aiding and abetting aggravated assault. The first two charges were dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to the third. He will be sentenced on March 19.
Three other men — ages 19, 21 and 24 — faced lesser charges in the case.
