50 Years To Life In Prison Expected For Duo In Brutal RivCo Murder

HEMET, CA — Two men who severely beat and ultimately gunned down a 36-year-old Hemet man are each expected to receive 50 years to life in state prison or longer when they're sentenced in February.

Alberto Franco, 27, of Hemet and Christian Anselmo Gomez, 46, of Homeland killed Salvador Alvarez Cortez in 2020.

Following four days of deliberations, a Riverside County jury on Friday found both defendants guilty of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted kidnapping and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

Jurors acquitted Franco of assault with a machine gun.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samah Shouka scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 2 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Each defendant is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

The men were on trial in August at the Banning Justice Center when Gomez's attorney became ill and was unable to continue, prompting Judge Mark Singerton to declare a mistrial and dismiss the jury.

A new panel was convened earlier this month, and retrial testimony spanned nearly two weeks.

According to the prosecution, Franco and Gomez targeted Cortez because he had stolen property from Gomez, and the defendant wanted revenge, with Franco's help.

On the evening of Nov. 2, 2020, the pair found the victim at a residence adjacent to a strip mall in the 200 block of Stetson Avenue, near Magnolia Circle, and cornered him in the garage. Franco and Gomez pummeled the victim with metal pipes until he was able to escape, running to the mall, where he collapsed in front of a Mexican food restaurant.

Customers and employees came out to check on Cortez, whom one witness described as "having his head caved in" from the beating, according to the prosecution's trial brief.

As the witnesses began calling 911, the defendants drove into the parking lot in Franco's Dodge Durango and confronted the victim again, with Gomez emerging from the SUV armed with an AR-15 rifle.

People took refuge in the restaurant, as well as in their vehicles.

"The defendants then tried to grab the victim and pull him towards the Durango, which he fought," according to court papers. "Two separate cell phone videos captured the next events. As Franco was pulling and fighting with the victim to get into the car, Gomez shot him. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain, and Gomez continued to fire shots into him, a total of 15 times."
Cortez died at the scene.

The defendants fled in the SUV, and a witness gave chase, trailing them until they stopped in the middle of the street, where Franco leveled the AR-15 at him, at which point the man sped away, prosecutors said.

According to Lt. Nathan Miller of the Hemet Police Department, Franco lost control of the Durango moments later and slammed into a brick feature outside a residence in the 1400 block of South Palm Avenue, causing the SUV's engine to fail. The defendants ran away southbound.

Patrol officers initiated a search, which ended in the predawn hours the following day, when both men were located hiding on Coral Avenue, where they were taken into custody without incident.

Neither defendant had documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.