3 alleged gang members plead not guilty in Oceano homicide case

Three men accused of killing a 41-year-old Oceano man have all pleaded not guilty in the crime.

Robert and Gabriel Garay of San Luis Obispo and Nathaniel Jara of Avila Beach appeared in San Luis Obispo Superior Court Thursay to enter their pleas.

The three men are accused of killing Daniel Fuentes Sr., 41, of Oceano just after midnight April 3 along the 2200 block of Beach Street. Fuentes fled to a neighbor’s house and told the neighbor he had been shot. He died shortly after at the scene.

All three entered not guilty please to charges of first-degree murder and enhancements alleging that the killing was done on the behalf of a criminal street gang. The three men are suspected members of thee Oceano 13 gang.

The three were arrested and charged in Fuentes’ murder in August after a months-long investigation. The SLO County sheriff’s office said it collected forensic evidence from the crime scene to build a suspect profile. That evidence was sent to the State Department of Justice and was used to make the three arrests in the case.

They are being held in the San Luis Obispo County Jail without bail. They are due back in court on Nov. 5.

KEYT 2019