Defendant pleads not guilty to murder charge. But court records say he has confessed

A Fresno man pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court to a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Breanna Bradford, in September.

But court records say James Matthew Gonzales-Gay, 35, has confessed to shooting Bradford multiple times. “Under Miranda, he stated he was responsible for taking her life,” a Fresno police arrest record says. Police are required to tell criminal suspects in custody that they have the constitutional right to remain silent before they are questioned, in what is known as the Miranda warning.

A criminal complaint charges Gonzales-Gay, who prefers to be called Gay, with one count of murder, accusing him of “personally and intentionally” discharging a handgun to kill Bradford. The complaint also say Gay has five felony convictions in 2006 for assault with a deadly weapon.

If convicted of the murder charge, Gay would face life in prison.

Police say Bradford, 22, was found dead during the early morning of Sept. 17 inside her silver Volkswagen GTI after someone reported a foul odor coming from the vehicle parked near Ventura Avenue and Ninth Street. At the time, Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said she died of a “traumatic injury.”

Court records say she was killed Sept. 15. Gay was arrested that day after allegedly trying to carjack a U.S. Postal Mail truck in Fresno. At the time of his arrest, police were unaware that Bradford had disappeared.

Because the mail truck incident qualifies as a federal offense, Gay was charged in U.S. District Court in Fresno. In November, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a mail carrier with the intent to commit robbery and to being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records say.

Gay is scheduled to be sentenced by federal Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on Feb. 5. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In Superior Court, Judge Michael Idiart granted Gay’s request to represent himself in court.

At Thursday’s arraignment, Gay appeared unsure of the legal proceedings so Idiart explained his rights and options, such as writing a motion to get court funds to hire a private investigator.

Gay’s next hearing is Jan. 18. Until then, Idiart ordered Gay held in the Fresno County Jail in lieu of $1.98 million bail.

An affidavit by Fresno police Detective Ray Camacho says Gonzales-Gay showed up at Bradford’s apartment before midnight Sept. 14, upsetting her because she was starting a new job later that day. The affidavit says Gay was armed with two guns and appeared “paranoid, furtive, nervous” and “under the influence of some type of illicit narcotic” when he took her from her apartment on the day she disappeared.

Two of Bradford’s relatives, ages 17 and 22, witnessed the confrontation. Gay and Bradford then left her home.

The affidavit says Bradford’s family reported her missing around 2:40 p.m. Sept. 15 after she didn’t show up to her 7 a.m. shift on her first day of work at the IHOP restaurant on Tulare Street in Fresno. They told police she had been taken against her will at gunpoint by Gay. Relatives also told police that Bradford and the suspect had multiple incidents of “unreported domestic abuse by James,” and a scar on her forehead was from an injury inflicted by Gay, the affidavit says.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Defendant pleads not guilty to murder charge. But court records say he has confessed."