Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for Role in Fatal Gang Shooting

Bay City News--A woman charged with supplying the gun used to fatally shoot a teenager in Redwood City in 2004 was sentenced to five years in prison in San Mateo County Superior Court today.

Ana Cervantes, 26, pleaded no contest this morning to two felony charges of accessory to murder in connection with a gang shooting that occurred at a quinceañera, or 15th birthday party, at Red Morton Park on April 17, 2004, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Cervantes also admitted to being affiliated with the Sureño street gang.

Prosecutors alleged that Cervantes went to the party with her common-law husband, Heriberto Sanchez, who got into an argument with 19-year-old Elisondo Mendoza and a 16-year-old boy. Cervantes took a gun out of her purse and gave it to Sanchez, who shot and killed Mendoza and wounded the 16-year-old in the leg. Both victims were affiliated with the Norteño gang, Wagstaffe said.

During the investigation into the shooting, Cervantes allegedly misled police by misidentifying the shooter and giving an inaccurate description of Sanchez' getaway vehicle and direction of flight, according to Wagstaffe. Before investigators realized they had been misled, Cervantes fled to Mexico, where she remained until September 2010, when she was arrested trying to cross the border back to California.

Sanchez was never arrested and remains at large, according to the district attorney's office. "We're working very hard with the federal authorities to try to locate him," Wagstaffe said.