An East Palo Alto man who was arrested during the “Operation Sunny Day” sweep was found not guilty Thursday in the shooting death of Lamont Coleman in 2013, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
Tyrone Sostenes Love-Lopez, 25, remains in custody on no bail after the jury deadlocked on six other charges: one count of conspiracy to commit murder for the death of Coleman, 21; one count of conspiracy to commit murder for the death of Jonathan Alcazar, 24, who was also fatally shot in 2013; one count of murder in Alcazar’s death; and felony assault with a semi-automatic firearm on Ramon Soria, Adrian Soria and Daniel Larios.
According to the District Attorney, the jury “hopelessly deadlocked” on the six charges, splitting either 7-5 or 6-6 on each of them. They reached the not-guilty verdict on the one murder charge during the fifth day of deliberations, following a 31-day trial.
After the verdict was announced, Superior Court Judge Lisa Novak declared a mistrial and discharged the jury, according to the District Attorney.
Love-Lopez is one of 16 suspected gang members who were swept up in a March 2014 operation that involved multiple law enforcement agencies and that focused on murders, attempted murders, drug offenses and gang-related felonies that occurred between September 2012 and December 2013. The sweep occurred after an 18-month investigation.
The investigation was sparked by a series of fatal shootings, including the killings of Chris Baker in East Palo Alto and of Stoney Gipson in San Francisco in 2012; and the killings of Alcazar and Coleman in East Palo Alto, which occurred in less than two weeks of each other.
The violence in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park is believed to have been sparked by a feud between the Taliban gang and the Da Vill and Sac Street gangs.
Love-Lopez is scheduled to return to court on June 18 to set further proceedings.