Homicide suspect in fatal shooting pleads not guilty
EPHRATA – An Ephrata man accused of fatally shooting another man during a confrontation outside a local convenience store last month has pled not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder.
The defendant, Eriberto Mendoza, 30, entered his plea Monday during an arraignment hearing before Grant County Superior Court Judge Tyson Hill. Mendoza remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail pending trial scheduled for Sept. 24, although that trial date will possibly be continued. He is being represented by a public defender.
Mendoza is accused of intentionally shooting 30-year-old Daniel Alcala of Ephrata during an incident reported around 7:40 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, at the Hawk Fuel convenience store located in the 700 block of North Basin Street. The homicide was investigated by Ephrata police and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
According to authorities, Mendoza and his brother, Juan, were at the store’s gas pumps in a 2019 Toyota Tacoma pickup when Alcala and his girlfriend arrived in another vehicle.
Investigators were told that Alcala’s sister had been involved in an earlier verbal argument with Juan Mendoza, whom she was dating. Alcala initially approached both Mendoza brothers and shook hands with them, but then Alcala allegedly began arguing and punching Juan Mendoza while he was seated as a passenger inside the pickup, according to the report.
Authorities said Eriberto Mendoza was exiting from the store when he saw his brother being struck by Alcala. He allegedly fired several shots from a handgun, fatally wounding Alcala, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Mendoza brothers left in their truck prior to the arrival of police, but authorities received a call about an hour later saying they were at a rural residence in the 12700 block of Road A-NW just outside of Ephrata.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the location, where Eriberto Mendoza voluntarily surrendered. He was carrying a 9 mm Glock handgun and loaded magazine that were collected as evidence, while several spent shell casings and an unfired cartridge were found at the convenience store, the report stated.
Eriberto Mendoza declined to speak to investigators and instead requested to talk to a lawyer. Juan Mendoza was also initially detained and both men were transported to the Grant County Jail. It was discovered that Juan had been shot in one leg during the incident and he was transported to Columbia Basin Hospital for medical care, then later released.
At the hospital, Juan confirmed to a sheriff’s detective that he was dating Alcala’s sister, but did not go into details about what happened and only said “that Eriberto had defended him,” the report stated. It noted that Juan did not appear to be seriously hurt from the alleged assault by Alcala.
Detectives also spoke with both Alcala’s sister and his girlfriend along with other witnesses at Hawk Fuel, and obtained surveillance video footage from the convenience store.
After reviewing the video, investigators said it appeared the shooting occurred very quickly and that Alcala, who was unarmed, had his back turned from Eriberto Mendoza when he was shot.
“There does not appear to be any warning or delay from Eriberto before he shoots Daniel … the shooting of Daniel does not appear to be reasonable,” the report stated.
