A state appeals court on Thursday rejected an appeal from one of the two men convicted of killing an innocent bystander during a gang shootout at a taco truck in Long Beach almost five years ago.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal disagreed with the defense’s contention that jurors in Tyquan Markeith Benson’s trial should not have heard statements made by his co-defendant, Jacquise Wright, during an undercover jailhouse operation.
Benson, 30, who lived in Long Beach, was convicted of first-degree murder for the Dec. 4, 2020, shooting that left Alejandra Martinez dead.
Jurors also found him guilty of one count each of attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, shooting from a motor vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Benson — who had a 2014 conviction for burglary — was sentenced in 2023 to 50 years to life plus an additional 17 years and eight months in state prison.
Wright, now 35, also of Long Beach, was convicted of one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and shooting from a motor vehicle.
He was sentenced in July 2024 to 28 years to life in state prison. His appeal is still pending.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James D. Otto said at the time that he found Wright to “have some lesser culpability” than Benson.
During Wright’s trial, Deputy District Attorney Robert Song told jurors that Martinez — a 36-year-old mother of three — had stopped at a taco truck after work and was fatally shot in crossfire created by Wright and Benson while a group of people were “boxed in and trapped” in the parking lot near Magnolia Avenue and Anaheim Street.
Song said it was “clear that one of two people killed Alejandra Martinez,” telling the panel that it was either Benson or Wright who fired from separate vehicles after a confrontation with gang rivals.
“Even though we cannot definitely say which person shot (her) … in either scenario, you can find him guilty of murder,” the deputy district attorney said in his closing argument.
A third shooter — whose identity is unknown — fired from the back of the taco truck in what was an apparent attempt to shoot back at Benson as he left the parking lot, but was in the wrong position to have shot and killed Martinez, the prosecutor said.
Wright’s trial attorney, George Moyer, countered that his client “did not shoot a firearm” and did not kill Martinez.
He said Wright tried to ease tensions with people who might have been rivals in gang territory and attempted to avoid conflict while getting the food the men had ordered.
Wright’s lawyer called Benson a “hothead” and told jurors that being associated with him “doesn’t make Jacquise Wright guilty.”
He said the evidence “all points toward Jacquise Wright’s innocence.”
In a statement released shortly after the shooting, the Long Beach Police Department said detectives believed a gang-related dispute escalated into a shooting and that “the victim was not the intended target.”
A female juvenile was also struck in the upper body but recovered, police said.
Wright and Benson were arrested about 2 1/2 months after the shooting and have remained behind bars since then.