By Susan Meeker
COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Sacramento man who shot his co-workers from the backseat of a vehicle traveling on Interstate 5 last June is facing more than 30 years in prison after pleading no contest to three counts of second-degree attempted murder.
Royer Delgado, 31, appeared with his Sacramento based attorney, Larry Pilgrim, in Colusa County Superior Court on March 6, to answer to charges amended by Colusa County District’s Attorney Office that allows for the possibility of him someday getting out of prison.
Delgado will be sentenced on May 8.
Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Thompson said each count of second-degree attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of nine years. However, Delgado also pleaded no contest to one special enhancement of using a firearm in commission of the crime, causing the great bodily injury of Emerson Gomez, who suffered a near fatal gunshot wound to the head, leaving him in a near vegetative state that requires round-the-clock care.
Such an enhancement, while highly challenged by social justice reformers, carries the added penalty of 25-years to life.
While Delgado’s attorney said there was a factual basis for the charges, the incident is still shrouded in mystery. The driver, Jesus Lopez, said at a preliminary hearing in October that the four co-workers had finished working a construction job in the Red Bluff area and were returning home in their assigned work truck when Delgado asked him to play a song from his smartphone playlist.
Lopez described the Spanish-language song as dark and cryptic and that immediately after it played, Delgado tossed a handgun into his lap.
Lopez said he picked it up and handed it back to Delgado, who was sitting in the second-row seat behind him, telling him to put it away.
According to testimony, Delgado began shooting, although there had been no quarrel between the four men.
Lopez, who was struck in the arm and head, just behind the ear, was able to pull the truck over, get out, and run away. Jose Duarte-Felix, who was riding in the seat next to Delgado, was shot in the arm, but also escaped.
Gomez was shot directly in the head and remained unconscious throughout the ordeal.
Lopez, who called 911, testified that Delgado quickly moved into the driver’s seat and sped off at a high rate of speed. Officers from the Williams CHP spotted and attempted to stop the vehicle while it was still in Colusa County, but Delgado did not yield and engaged the officers in a vehicle pursuit, law enforcement officials said.
About 10 minutes later, Woodland Area CHP officers deployed a spike strip just south of the Dunnigan Rest Area, which caused the disabled vehicle to come to a stop, with Gomez, who was gravely injured and unconscious still inside.
The CHP said Delgado tried to flee on foot but was quickly captured, arrested, and returned to Colusa County, where he remained in jail pending court proceedings.