Two years after teenager’s death at Raleigh mobile home park, shooter receives sentence
More than two years after a 16-year-old boy was found fatally shot on the street of his neighborhood, the man responsible was sentenced to prison.
Gabriel Jimenez, 53, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Dylan Anderson Jones on the morning of June 23, 2020.
Jimenez was sentenced to up to 89 months, or 7 years and 5 months, in prison during during a plea hearing in Wake County court Friday.
The fatal weekday morning shooting occurred at the Green Spring Valley Mobile Home Park in south Raleigh near Garner. Jones’ body was found near the entrance of the neighborhood.
Jimenez’s stepson, Juan Ernesto Sierra Trinidad, 25, of Carrboro, was arrested and charged with felony after the fact. Jimenez’s then 15-year-old son, Brandon Jimenez, was previously charged with first-degree murder in the case. Their charges remained pending as of this week.
Gabriel Jimenez appeared in court virtually through a video call and had a court interpreter communicate to him in Spanish.
According to statements in court by the prosecution, Jimenez shot the teenager four times with a revolver while Jones was fighting with his son Brandon.
Jimenez’s defense attorney Robert Singagliese argued that the case merited a manslaughter charge with a reduced sentence because Jimenez acted in “imperfect self-defense.” Jones had a pistol during the altercation with Brandon Jimenez.
Jimenez had no prior convictions and has served over 900 days in jail since his June 24, 2020 arrest.
Jones’ family was present and opposed the arranged plea, wanting a murder charge with a longer mandatory sentence.
“He murdered my beloved grandson,” said June Jones, who said her grandson lived with her and his mother, Tara Jones. “We will never stop mourning him.”
Tara Jones, who left the courtroom during the sentencing and cried outside, declined to comment for this story.
Jones, who was American, was described as “Mexican by heart” by one juvenile neighbor who previously spoke to The News & Observer in 2020 at the mobile home park, where residents held a memorial for him in the days following the shooting.
He was considered as a friend to the neighborhood, according to his neighbors.
Physical altercation that led up
Jimenez was arrested along with his son and stepson shortly after the shooting occurred, after investigators identified the car he had driven to the mobile home park.
Brandon Jimenez led investigators to arrest and charge Jimenez after telling them that it was his father who had shot Jones. Jimenez’s adult stepson also cooperated with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office in its investigation, according to his attorney.
As part of the events that led to the shooting, Brandon Jimenez and Jones, who attended West Lake Middle School together, arranged for the sale of an Xbox.
When they met for the transfer, however, Jones robbed Brandon Jimenez of the gaming console, cash and a pistol. He also struck Brandon with the gun during the scuffle.
In retaliation for the robbery to “exact revenge,” Brandon planned to confront and threaten Jones and went with his father and stepbrother to his neighborhood before 8 a.m. the day of the shooting, according to Singagliese. Jimenez and Trinidad drove separate vehicles.
Jimenez was armed and Brandon brought a baseball bat. When they spotted Jones, they saw he carried a gun in his waistband.
Brandon and Jones wrestled each other to the ground, and Jimenez shot Jones when he saw that he had overpowered his son, according to witness statements shared in court.
Singagliese said in court that Jimenez believed he had to fire at Jones to protect his son.
“You were supposed to be the adult,” said Becky Chlopek, who said she was Jones’ stepmother, in a court statement. “You were a coward.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 2:58 PM.
