Daughters of slain man searching for answers to father’s killing by Fresno gang member
Javier Fernandez, a grandfather of six, was sitting in his car with his mutt Doggie on his lap when someone in a silver Honda CRV pulled up next to him and asked, “where are you from?”
Before the 52-year-old Malaga resident could answer, several gunshots rang out from the Honda, striking Fernandez. As the Honda sped off, Fernandez, bleeding from his stomach, staggered across the street where he collapsed in a yard, according to an eyewitness to the shooting, Onesimo Valdovinos.
Someone from the home came out to try and help.
“One of them was holding his head up, trying to lift it from the floor,” Valdovinos testified.
Valdovinos was the first witness Tuesday in the preliminary hearing for 21-year-old Richard Aguilar, who is charged with the murder of Fernandez.
The shooting happened on July 9, 2021 at about 9:30 a.m. in the 3000 block of E. Olney Ave. in Malaga, a neighborhood in southeast Fresno County bordered by manufacturers and warehouses.
Valdovinos was several feet from the shooting and was cleaning the yard Fernandez parked in front of when the shooting happened.
Valdovinos told prosecutor Kendall Reynolds that he ran for cover after the first two shots, but he heard about five to six shots total.
The witness identified Aguilar in court as the shooter and the passenger in the Honda. Valdovinos also said there were at least two people in the car, possibly three.
Under cross examination by defense attorney Miles Harris, Valdovinos was asked how he was able to identify Aguilar as the gunman when he was running for cover.
The witness said he saw Aguilar as the Honda drove up and as he began shooting.
“I didn’t run after the first shot,” he said.
When questioned by detectives, Valdovinos testified he identified Aguilar in a photo lineup that Harris also tried to discredit.
Harris criticized the lineup as being misleading. His client’s photo was brighter in color, he said, so as to make it stand out.
Aguilar was arrested several months after the shooting as part of a crack down on the Calwa gang by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. A total of 14 people were arrested and charged with various crimes, including murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Fernandez’s three adult daughters and his sister were in the courtroom Tuesday, hoping to understand why their father was shot to death.
They said he had no gang ties and was extremely protective of them when they were growing up.
“He had just left my mom’s house and told her he was going to the store and he would be right back,” said his sister Alicia Ruiz. “He even took Doggie with him. My brother was not part of the gang life.”
Ruiz said her brother worked as a landscaper, loved his family and adored his six grandchildren.
His daughter, Corina Audelo, said her father enjoyed telling jokes and making people laugh.
“He had a big laugh,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “We miss him and we want some answers.”
The preliminary hearing continues Wednesday in Dept. 71.
