A Long Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to 67 years and eight months to life in prison for killing an innocent bystander at a taco truck more than two and a half years ago.
It’s unknown who fired the fatal shot that killed 36-year-old Alejandra Martinez on the night of Dec.4, 2020, but prosecutors say 28-year-old Tyquan Benson kicked off the chain of events that led to her death. At trial, they presented evidence that he and another man participated in a planned ambush meant to target rival gang members at a taco truck in the area of Anaheim Street and Magnolia.
Martinez, they said, was a mother and “blue-collar worker” who had just gotten off work and was waiting for her order at the taco truck when she was caught in the crossfire of bullets coming from Benson and alleged co-conspirator Jacquise Wright, 33.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Andy Barrera Recinos, Martinez’s husband, spoke in front of the courtroom and revealed the grief he and their three children have endured since her death.
“They have ruined the life of my children and also myself,” Recinos said through a Spanish interpreter. “It’s been extremely difficult for me to be mom and dad.”
When the children ask him where their mom is, Recinos said, he doesn’t know what to tell them.
Instead, he “changes the subject,” Recinos said.
Benson was convicted in July of one count each of first-degree murder, attempted murder, shooting from a motor vehicle, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and being a prohibited possessor in possession of a gun. A jury also found true the allegation that he used a gun in the commission of the crime.
Before the sentence was handed down, Benson’s attorney, Theida Salazar, asked Long Beach Superior Court Judge James D. Otto to consider the 28-year-old’s difficult upbringing.
When Benson was just 1-and-half years of age, his father was gunned down, Salazar said. Eventually, Benson developed seizures and, while attending a child abuse program in 2003, was diagnosed with psychotic disorder, hallucinations and anti-social behavior, Salazar said.
Salazar maintained that this revealed Benson was either failed by the system or never received an equal opportunity to succeed.
“This isn’t an excuse,” Salazar said, adding that he was simply trying to make sure the “totality of the circumstances,” were taken into account.
But Deputy District Attorney Robert Song called for Otto to impose a “significance sentence” on Benson for his role in Martinez’s killing.
“What we have here is a plan,” Song said. “This plan resulted in the death of an innocent person.”
Though Benson may have had “certain disadvantages” in life, “nobody told him to take that gun” to the taco stand, Song said.
Salazar, countered, saying the shooting was not planned or premeditated in any way, but the result of Benson attempting to protect himself against East Side Longo gang members.
“It is unfortunate, there was a loss of life, … and it is not taken lightly,” Salazar said. But Benson was not there to “take a life.”
Otto told Salazar that he would take Benson’s age at the time of the shooting and his upbringing into account only as much as the law would allow him.
“The events that occurred, … were totally unnecessary,” Otto said, adding that Benson had made bad choices and would have to live with them. “This was a terrible crime.”
Ultimately, Otto sentenced Benson to 17 years and eight months in prison, followed by 50 years to life, for his crimes.
Wright still faces the same charges as Benson for his alleged role in the shooting, but his case will be heard at a later date. His trial began alongside Benson earlier this year, but it was declared a mistrial just a few days in because his attorney had to take care of a personal emergency.