Nampa bystander was killed in gang shooting. The last of 6 men is now sentenced
On Wednesday, 3rd Judicial District Judge Gabriel McCarthy handed down the last sentence for the sixth man involved in what authorities said was a gang-related shooting in Canyon County that left an “innocent bystander” dead, “caught in the crossfire.”
As part of a binding plea agreement — which the presiding judge can’t modify — Pedro Navarro Jr., of Caldwell, was placed on a sentencing option, known as a rider. Under the alternative, the judge will review the 23-year-old’s progress in prison for up to a year, and could release him on probation if he completes the program successfully.
Navarro pleaded guilty in August to aggravated assault aiding and abetting. He and five other men were arrested in 2024 in the fatal shooting of Joe Flores, who was days away from turning 24.
McCarthy said he’s not in the business of agreeing to the sentencing alternative and then pulling the rug out from under defendants. If Navarro does a “satisfactory rider,” McCarthy said, he’ll place him on probation.
But if he messes up his rider — or violates his probation later down the road — McCarthy could send him back to prison for at least three years, he said. And he could spend up to five years in prison, depending on the state’s parole board.
McCarthy presided over all six of the men’s sentencings, an experience that has “deeply impacted” him, he said in court Wednesday.
“Our community lost a good person that night,” the judge said.
Navarro was the aggressor in fight between rival gangs, judge says
Navarro’s actions “directly caused” Flores’ death, McCarthy said.
Instead of letting a disagreement between rival gangs go, Navarro decided to confront the others in a restaurant parking lot on Sept. 1, 2022, McCarthy said, adding that he was “clearly the aggressor.”
A member of the Brown Pride Sureños street gang, Lazaro Vela, shot Navarro, a Norteño gang member, three times, according to prosecutors and court filings. Brian Moreno, another Norteños gang member, retaliated and hit Flores in the crossfire.
Of the other five men, Moreno, who has since filed an appeal, was given the harshest punishment: a maximum 50-year sentence, with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Vela, 20, won’t be eligible for parole for at least 17 years. The other three men — ages 21, 24 and 26 — were all sentenced on lesser charges.
Flores’ brother said in court that although he’s glad “in a sense” that these court hearings are over, the incident is never going to be over for his family.
“You think this guy can be rehabilitated?” he asked in court, calling him a “domestic terrorist.”
