In Union City gang killings of boys, aged 11 and 14, a third teen suspect has been charged as an adult

UNION CITY — In the early morning hours of Nov. 23, 2019, 11-year-old Kevin Hernandez and 14-year-old Sean Withington were sitting in a minivan parked at Searles Elementary School when police say a rented Toyota pulled up and two gunmen fired dozens of shots, killing both boys.

The three suspects, Carlos Zepeda, 22, Jason Cornejo, 21 and Oswaldo Flores, 20, were all arrested and charged with murder. But Flores, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was originally charged as a juvenile. In coming days he is due to appear in court and enter a plea, records show.

That changed on Nov. 14, 2022, when an Alameda County judge approved a prosecution request to shift Flores’ case from juvenile to adult court. For now, Flores is still being charged as an adult, but several factors could soon cause that to change.

The case encapsulates nearly everything that new Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has run against. When charges were initially filed in 2020 by former DA Nancy O’Malley, they included gang enhancements, gun enhancements and special circumstances allegations, making the defendants eligible for life without parole. All three defendants were teens at the time — Zepeda and Cornejo were 19 and 18, respectively, and Flores was just five weeks away from his 18th birthday.

Price, who was elected in November and sworn in January, ran on a platform against charging juveniles as adults, pledged to stop charging gang enhancements, opposes death and life without parole sentences and has advocated giving special consideration to defendants younger than 25 at the time of their alleged crimes. Last week, she directed her prosecutors not to file sentencing enhancements, including those alleging use of a firearm, except in rare circumstances that require approval from higher-ups.

Price’s administration has not yet reviewed the Union City double-homicide case and determined whether to restructure the charges or send Flores back to juvenile court, where he’d be ineligible for the life sentence that is virtually guaranteed for adult murder convictions.

But if Price doesn’t return Flores to juvenile court, an appellate court might; Flores’ attorney is appealing the ruling that allowed his case to be transferred to adult court. The appeal is still in its early stages, and in the meantime, Flores won’t appear in court alongside his co-defendants, who are scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in April.

The motive for the case, according to Union City police, was a gang rivalry that dates back to April 2015, when an alleged Hayward gang member was shot and killed. The death sparked a feud between a subset of the Norteños based around Decoto Road in Union City and the Hayward Original Gripp Gettas, or HOGGs, which Flores, Zepeda, and Cornejo allegedly belonged to.

Police have not said that Kevin or Sean were suspected gang members, only that they grew up around Decoto Norteños. After the killings, a suspected Norteño posted a photo to Instagram memorializing “Baby Kev and Lil Sean,” which Cornejo allegedly shared with other HOGGs members.

While the feud between both gangs was longstanding, a rap song reignited tensions in 2019. Recorded by a Decoto Norteño, the song accused HOGGs members of being scared to stand up for their gang. According to police, Cornejo and Zepeda became enraged by the song’s music video, leading Cornejo to purchase an AK-47-style firearm for $1,200 and Zepeda to rent a Toyota through a relative in preparation for retaliatory attacks.

On Nov. 19, 2019, the pair allegedly pulled up alongside another vehicle in Union City, screamed a gang taunt out the window, and opened fired. Both victims were struck by gunfire and survived. Police quickly identified Cornejo and Zepeda as suspects and the investigation escalated to the point that plainclothes officers began taking note of their physical locations, according to authorities.

In fact, just hours before Sean and Kevin were gunned down, police conducted undercover surveillance of Cornejo’s home, but departed the area before Cornejo allegedly left to meet up with his co-defendants. A little after 1 a.m. on Nov. 23, 2019, authorities say the three happened by Searles Elementary, where the two victims were sitting inside a minivan registered to one of their mothers.

Shell casings indicated at least two guns were used and that dozens of shots were fired. Both boys were riddled with bullets. After the shooting, Cornejo allegedly returned to the parking lot, filmed himself driving while playing a HOGGs member’s rap song on his car stereo and zoomed his camera in on the location where both boys were killed. In an Instagram conversation, Cornejo also allegedly scolded Flores for not firing enough times at Kevin or Sean, police say.

“I could have exploded the car an u (sic) would not be happy,” Flores allegedly protested.