One Tulare County massacre suspect appears in court, second recovering after gunfight

One of two men arrested in the gang-related massacre of a Goshen family pleaded not guilty Tuesday to six counts of murder.

Noah Beard, 25, through an attorney, also denied the special circumstance of multiple murders, which could result in the death penalty if he’s found guilty.

Fellow defendant Angel Uriarte, 35, remains hospitalized and was not arraigned. He fired at federal agents when they tried to arrest him and was shot during a gunfight with ATF agents, requiring surgery.

Beard and Uriarte are both being held without bail. Beard and Uriate could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said.

The arraignment took place in Porterville at the South County Justice Center, in Tulare County. Beard was not in the courtroom. He appeared via video from the Bob Wiley Correctional Facility north of Visalia.

Tulare County Superior Court Commissioner Mikki Verissimo set a preliminary hearing date of Feb. 21 for Beard, and appointed the public defender’s office to represent him. A preliminary hearing conference was set for Feb. 16.

Killings happened less than a month ago

The homicides happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, inside and outside a home in Goshen. Alissa Parraz, 16, could be seen fleeing with her 10-month-old child Nycholas in a chilling video released last week by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

She and her child were each killed by a bullet to the head, authorities said.

Beard used a rifle and Uriarte used a handgun to commit the murders, the charging document said.

The other victims were identified by the coroner’s office as Rosa Parraz, 72; Marcos Parraz, 19; Eladio Parraz, 52; and Jennifer Analla, 50.

The 25-page document, filed by Tulare County Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Taksa, said both Beard and Uriate belonged to a criminal street gang, and the homicides were “carried out to further the activities of the criminal street gang.”

History between a defendant and a victim

The Los Angeles Times reported that Uriarte had a feud going with the murdered family, and that he had opened fire on the terrified girlfriend of Eladio Parraz in an incident in Goshen in 2014 and was sent to prison. Eladio Parraz was one of the six murder victims.

At the time, Parraz told a deputy that his family and Uriate’s family “had an extensive history and feud,” a court document said.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said detectives believe that two of the six victims who were killed had ties to the Sureño gang and the shooting may have been part of a rivalry, though a clear motive is still unknown.

He said the Sureño street gang members are connected to the Mexican Mafia prison gang, while most gangs in the Visalia area identify as Norteño, associated with Nuestra Familia, a rival prison gang, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Both Uriarte and Beard have a long history of gang violence and narcotics dealings and are validated members of the Norteño gang, authorities said.

The court hearing Tuesday was the first since Beard and Uriarte were arrested in a series of early morning raids Friday that law enforcement dubbed “Operation Nightmare.”

The operation also included cooperation with several state prisons, which targeted eight cells and 16 inmates linked to the Nuestra Familia prison gang.

At the court proceeding in Porterville, Beard was also charged in a separate case filed last year involving an incident a year earlier alleging he was a felon in possession of a firearm and cocaine. He pleaded not guilty.