‘Highly influential’ gang member arrested over Sanger murder from 2023, sheriff says
Authorities say they have solved a murder in Sanger from 2023, as part of a multi-agency effort targeting gang activity in the Central Valley.
Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni announced the news during a press conference on Monday sharing the results of a two-month effort titled Operation Hands Down, which culminated in 69 gang arrests last week.
During the operation, Zanoni said authorities obtained information that helped solve the murder of Marcos Antonio Escutia, who was killed in November 2023.
Zanoni called the suspect, Eduardo Roberto Garcia, a “highly influential Sureño gang member” who’s a known associate of the Mexican Mafia.
Garcia has been charged with murder, Zanoni said.
The suspect is also expected to face charges in an unrelated felony assault, captured on surveillance video at a Sanger bar, that rendered a bartender unconscious, Zanoni said.
Escutia, 43, was killed in Sanger during a shooting that occurred around 10:15 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2023.
The Sanger Police Department posted about the shooting in April and asked the public for help. The department said Escutia was shot near Sequoia and Faller avenues and died at a nearby hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, authorities found a silver SUV abandoned in a canal, and witnesses identified the vehicle as involved in the shooting.
