MONTEVIDEO -- A man accused of shooting at a vehicle and its two occupants pleaded guilty Tuesday in Montevideo to second-degree attempted murder.
Jesus Antonio Gutierrez, 18, of Montevideo is expected to be sentenced to 100 months in prison as part of a plea agreement reached in the case, according to Chippewa County Attorney Dwayne Knutsen.
District Judge Paul Nelson accepted the defendant's plea after the Spanish-speaking Gutierrez outlined a factual basis for the charge through an interpreter.
His father, Marco Antonio Gutierrez Chavez, 43, also appeared in court Tuesday and maintained his innocence of the identical charges he faces in the Jan. 3 shooting. The court continued the matter and set a June 13 trial date, according to Knutsen.
Both defendants have been held in jail since their Jan. 3 arrests.
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No one was injured in the shooting, which occurred as a vehicle drove near the home of Marco Gutierrez Chavez in Montevideo.
Father and son were charged with two counts of second-degree attempted murder. They were also charged with two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault.
According to the criminal complaint, the driver of the vehicle, Jeovany Umanzor told Montevideo Police on Jan. 3 that he was driving a Buick that came to a stop sign at Third Street and Black Oak Avenue.
The car was fired upon. Umanzor and passenger Christian Rodriguez were not struck.
The trunk of the vehicle had several shotgun pellet marks, and the rear window and driver's side rear window were shot out.
Police later confiscated an empty magazine for a .22-caliber weapon and three shotgun shells from the home of Jesus Gutierrez. They also found a shotgun and three shotgun shells in the garage of his house. The wad from a spent shotgun shell was found approximately 50 feet away from the residence.
The driver of the vehicle told police that the man who shot at them was Marco Chavez. He denied having any previous problems with the defendants, and stated that the shooting may been a case of mistaken identity.
A witness at the Gutierrez home interviewed the night of the shooting told police that Jesus Gutierrez had been struck in the head with a bottle at a Christmas party and harassed by men she described as Hondurans. She said her family was involved in a feud with the Hondurans.
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Jesus Gutierrez told police after his arrest that he was the one who had shot at the vehicle and that his father had not fired a gun.
The complaint charges that this is not consistent with statements taken from the victims and other witnesses.
