Oakland teen pleads to probation in gun case that stemmed from investigation into killings of Berkeley brothers

Jesse Moreno, 19, was arrested on gun possession charges amid an investigation into a gang-related Oakland house party shooting that claimed the lives of two teens from Berkeley.

OAKLAND — A 19-year-old man who was arrested on gun charges during an ongoing police investigation into the killings of two Berkeley brothers at an Oakland house party has pleaded no contest in exchange for a probation term, court records show.

Jesse Moreno, of Oakland, pleaded no contest to being a juvenile offender in possession of a firearm on May 9 at a hearing before Judge Elena Condes. He was formally sentenced to two years probation on June 7, records show.

Moreno was named as a person of interest in the investigation into the Oct. 1, 2022 killings of Jazy Sotelo Garcia, 17, and Angel Sotelo Garcia, 15, but has not been charged. At the May 9 hearing, county prosecutors made it clear the plea deal contains no promises about the double homicide investigation, should evidence of his possible involvement surface.

If Moreno violates his probation, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to the terms of the deal.

The brothers were shot and killed around 10 p.m. Oct. 1 at a party held in an Airbnb rental home on the 900 block of Apgar Street in North Oakland. Nine days later, police arrested a suspect, Sergio Morales-Jacquez, on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle that was hidden in a guitar case, during a police chase. Moreno was arrested a day later and charged with possessing guns and being in the car with Morals-Jacquez during the chase.

Morales-Jacquez has not been charged in the killing of the Sotelo Garcia brothers, but prosecutors did charge him as a juvenile in a San Lorenzo road rage killing. He pleaded guilty to murder in that case and was sentenced to incarceration up to his 25th birthday, under the state’s juvenile justice laws.

One suspect, 18-year-old Joaquin Godoy, has been charged as a juvenile with murdering the brothers. Prosecutors allege he mistook the Sotelo brothers — who were not gang members and attended Berkeley High School — for rivals and opened fire at the party, along with at least one other suspected shooter.

Authorities allege that Morales-Jacquez, Moreno, and Godoy are members of the same subset of the Norteño gang.