Tri-Cities gang member admits to role in killing pregnant 20-year-old. He was just 17
A 20-year-old Kennewick man admitted in court this week that he helped a gang member who shot and killed a pregnant woman three years ago.
Marin J. Rivera Jr. pleaded guilty to aiding Adrian Mendoza after the murder on Seventh Avenue in May 2019.
Rivera was in a group of gang members who opened fire on Andrea M. Nuñez while she was walking with her boyfriend, Joseph Ayala, in east Kennewick. However, Rivera did not have a gun.
He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of failing to contact police after Nuñez was shot. Rivera was originally charged with second-degree murder.
Rivera and Mendoza were 17 when they were charged with murder, but because of the seriousness of the crime, their cases were moved to adult court.
Mendoza’s trial for first-degree murder is scheduled for Sept. 6.
Benton County prosecutors plan to ask a judge to sentence Rivera to five years.
Since he admitted that he committed the crime to help a street gang that allows his sentence to be up to 10 years in prison, according to court records.
But Prosecutor Andy Miller said Rivera has cooperated with the investigation and minimal involvement in the shooting.
Since Rivera has been in jail since 2019, he could be released as early as September.
According to prosecutors, Nuñez’s family agreed with the plea offer.
A third suspect, Ezekiel Sanchez, also was facing charges for illegally possessing a gun in connection with the shooting. He was killed earlier this year after rival gang members opened fire on a car he was in at the intersection of Dayton Street and First Avenue.
Night of 2019 shooting
As part of the agreement, Rivera provided a description of the events leading up to the shooting.
Rivera and Mendoza had been hanging out for a few days before the shooting, he said. While they were not in the same gang, he was in a “different South Sider hood.”
He said was with Mendoza and other gang members at a party at house in east Kennewick where about 15 to 20 people were present, many using drugs.
About 4 a.m. someone saw Nuñez and Ayala walking past the east Kennewick house and alerted others at the party. “Hey, they’re right there. They’re right there. Let’s get these fools,” according to court records.
One person pulled out some guns and handed them out.
Rivera said he was “minding his own business” and noticed there weren’t any more guns. He didn’t know what was going on, but Mendoza told him to come along. When Rivera didn’t want to, Mendoza urged him on.
As he and Mendoza started down the street, others from the party joined them, converging on the couple.
As they approached, Nuñez told them to leave her and her boyfriend alone.
“And they kept walking, and like Adrian ... was like, ‘F-k that. West Side,’” Rivera said in a statement to prosecutors. “And she turned around and said, ‘South Side.’”
When she responded the first person opened fire, then a second, finally Mendoza fired.
One of those bullets hit Nuñez in her upper body, killing her.
A home video surveillance camera captured some of the attack.
Minutes later two men walked past the camera. One of them, believed to be Mendoza, had a shirt with the number “18” on the back in large numerals.
Nuñez died before police arrived.
Days later, Rivera, who turned 17 three days before the slaying, was arrested during classes at Southridge High School. Mendoza was arrested in Hermiston.
