Gang Member Convicted Of Murder After Killing Outcast In RivCo

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A Home Gardens gang member who killed an outcast lured to his death by the defendant was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder and other charges.

A Murrieta jury deliberated one day before finding 24-year-old Eric "Silent" Chaparro guilty in the 2020 death of Antonio "Omen" Anaya, 25.

Along with murder, jurors found true special circumstance allegations of killing for the benefit of a criminal street gang and lying in wait.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon scheduled a sentencing hearing for Aug. 9 at the Southwest Justice Center.

Chaparro is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to the District Attorney's Office, Anaya was alienated from fellow members of the gang in January 2020 after an unexplained falling out.

Chaparro was among Anaya's prior associates, and the two had been on good terms, prosecutors said in a trial brief.

On Jan. 26, 2020, the gang hierarchy decided Anaya was a liability, and one of the members angling to become a leader, then-15-year-old Horacio Monroy, volunteered to be a hit man, with Chaparro's help, the brief said.

Monroy's case was handled in juvenile court, and its disposition was unavailable.

Court papers said that he and Chaparro drove around most of the afternoon of Jan. 26 in the latter's Toyota Scion, waiting for an opportunity to confront Anaya, who ultimately went to a gang hangout at 3710 Windsong St., near Harlow Avenue, in Home Gardens.

Prosecutors said that Chaparro talked Anaya out of the house and into the driveway to speak with him there.

Monroy allegedly hid in shrubs nearby and waited for an opportunity to open fire with a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. However, according to prosecutors, Anaya immediately became suspicious about Chaparro's motives and pulled a 9mm pistol, prompting Monroy to begin firing his gun.

Chaparro ran toward his Toyota as Monroy allegedly fired multiple rounds, gravely wounding Anaya, who returned fire, striking Chaparro's vehicle before collapsing at the end of the driveway, according to the prosecution.

The defendants fled as residents of surrounding homes called 911.

Anaya was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Sheriff's Central Homicide Unit detectives spent nearly seven months piecing together what occurred, relying on area residents' statements, security surveillance videos obtained from businesses in the immediate vicinity of Windsong Street and Chaparro's mobile phone records to amass sufficient evidence to obtain arrest warrants in August 2020.

Chaparro had a misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence, but he had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

No information was available regarding his co-defendant.