Witness for prosecution at prelim can’t ID alleged shooter in killing of Fig Garden teen
A prosecution witness in the trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a Fig Garden teen during a botched robbery was unable to positively identify the defendant during a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Investigators say Joseph Antonio Espinoza, 23, was the gunman who killed Nick Kauls, a 17-year-old student at San Joaquin Memorial High School, around 11 p.m. on June 24 last year. The deadly shooting followed a series of robberies allegedly involving Espinoza and at least one other person, investigators say.
Judge Arlan L. Harrell barred media from taking photos of Espinoza after his attorney, Ralph Torres, told the judge the identity of the shooter is still in question. More than a half-dozen people in the courtroom on Wednesday wore T-shirts with Kauls’ face on them. The shirts read: “Nick Kauls A Life That Matters.”
Torres and the prosecutors in the case, Deborah Miller, both declined to comment outside the courtroom.
Testimony about attempted robbery
The witness who testified Wednesday was allegedly the victim of a separate robbery attempt, reported earlier the same night Kauls was shot. Prosecutors believe Espinoza was involved in both crimes.
On the stand Wednesday, the witness said he only saw the man who shot at him “at a glance.” He did not identify Espinoza, who sat in the courtroom in a red jail jumpsuit, his long hair pulled into a ponytail.
Speaking about the night of the attempted robbery, the witness said after visiting a bank near West and Shaw avenues, he suspected he was being followed by a white SUV. “The car pulled out of the exit at high speeds and caught up to me,” he said.
The witness said he believed there were five people in the car that followed him in a winding pursuit. At one point, the car attempted to trap him in a driveway.
Four people got out of the car and at least one person held a handgun, he testified. He drove off, but the car caught up along the passenger side of his car, the witness testified.
Then the driver - who prosecutors believe was Espinoza - fired a single shot and missed. The witness said the driver was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and fired the gun with his right hand.
Fresno Detective Joshua Knapp said the witness told investigators the driver yelled, “Pull over the f---ing car,” before firing. Knapp said the witness was not able to identify Espinoza as the shooter in a lineup.
Presented with six photos, Knapp said, the witness quickly whittled it down to two pictures, one of Espinoza and one of another person. The witness said he was “75% sure” the shooter was the person in the other photo, not Espinoza.
Robberies for bail money?
The robberies and killing of Kauls came after an incident the same day at a Motel 6 on Blackstone Avenue, south of Herndon Avenue, according to investigators.
Police were checking on a disturbance that started from “some kind of girl fight,” according to Fresno Police Officer Mark Bishop. Police found Espinoza and his friend, 18-year-old Jose Figueroa, and two women. Officers took two assault rifles and ammunition from the motel room.
Figueroa was booked into jail. Espinoza was cited for possession of methamphetamine, but not taken into custody, Bishop said.
Investigators said that’s when Espinoza and others decided to rob people to collect enough to bail Figueroa out. They used a stolen white 2018 Toyota Highlander to find victims.
Espinoza was arrested two days after the killing in the stolen car.
Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Adam Maldonado said Kauls and some friends gathered at a house on Sunset Avenue, a Fig Garden neighborhood near Shaw and Palm avenues. The 17-year-olds watched a movie, ate pizza and road skateboards.
Around 11 p.m. on the day of the killing, Kauls and another friend left the house to retrieve Kauls’ vape pen from his car out front. As they walked back toward the house, a white SUV pulled up slowly, Maldonado testified.
A man with a gun, wearing a black hoodie over his head, stepped out of the car and demanded valuables, according to testimony. The two teens made a break for the house and the man fired from two to five shots, according to Maldonado.
One of the teens, who described himself as a “car guy,” said he saw the SUV through the upstairs window of the house. He said it was a black, silver or white Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to Maldonado.
Investigators later found two 9 mm shell casings outside.
One teen made it inside, but Kauls was struck in the head. One teen attempted to apply towels to his dying friend’s head and pulled him inside the home, but Kauls later died at Community Regional Medical Center.
The slaying shook up the Fig Garden community. Hundreds of students, family, faculty and friends gathered to pray for Kauls at a memorial after his death.
The preliminary hearing is expected to continue on Thursday.
This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 3:13 PM.
