The former beau of a Latin “queen” gang member allegedly ordered killed by Latin King gang leader Jose Negrete testified Wednesday he knew something was wrong when he encountered a swarm of police officers in his former girlfriend’s neighborhood after he was dispatched there to pick up a vehicle.
Dimas Peralta, a former high-ranking Latin Kings gang member and the father of murder victim Jeri Lynn Dotson’s two children, said he was on call as a tow truck driver when he arrived at Dotson’s Chestnut Street apartment around 8 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2004.
He was intercepted by a detective, who asked him if he knew a young girl sitting outside of the home. Peralta recognized the girl as his daughter. He was informed police needed to speak with him at headquarters.
Fifteen hours passed, Peralta said, before he was informed his former girlfriend was killed. She was shot in the head and left on the basement floor of her Chestnut Street apartment with a cigarette lighter and piece of candy on her body.
Peralta testified he and Dotson had a “rocky relationship” before they split in December 2003. Soon after, she began dating Fernando Rivera, the former leader of the Ñetas street gang, which caused tension in the Latin Kings ranks. Rivera testified earlier this week he declined Negrete’s request to kill Dotson.
A day before Dotson turned up dead, Peralta testified, he spoke with Negrete, who is also accused of ordering a botched hit on Dotson’s roommate and gang turncoat Alex Ruiz, and several members of the Latin Kings during a meeting at his city apartment.
They held a “trial” for Dotson, who was accused of feeding information about the Latin Kings’ business to Rivera. Latin Kings and Ñetas had previously fraternized and were free to date each other, but everything changed when Ruiz defected, sparking a war between the rival factions.
The meeting ended shortly before midnight, roughly two and a half hours before Dotson was shot by convicted killer Angel “Ace” Hernandez. Dotson’s neighbor testified he heard a loud noise shortly after he took his dog out in the backyard around 2:30 a.m.
The medical examiner who performed Dotson’s autopsy testified a bullet was found lodged in her skull, near her bulging right eye.
Days later, at Dotson’s funeral, Negrete approached Peralta, at one point his second-in-command, and released him from his duties as a Latin King so he could take care of his children, who were 1 and 3 at the time of their mother’s death. Negrete’s attorney, Jack Furlong, elected not to cross examine Peralta.
Peralta’s testimony came after the judge, Pedro Jimenez, held an early-morning hearing outside the jury’s presence to determine whether Joey Martinez would be dismissed as a state witness.
Martinez, who served more than 10 years in state prison for his role in Dotson’s murder, testified earlier this week he couldn’t remember aspects of the case even though he previously testified against Negrete at trial.
Jimenez, characterizing Martinez’s memory lapse as “feigned” and an “implied denial” of past testimony, opted not to hold Martinez in contempt for being uncooperative. He ruled prosecutors can read his prior testimony to the jury, which was instructed to disregard Martinez’s testimony from Tuesday.
“You can forget birthdays and anniversary dates,” he said. “I would charitably describe his memory lapse as not sincere.”
Martinez acknowledged at the hearing outside the jury’s presence his previous testimony was accurate and he wasn’t forced to testify against his “will.”
“I don’t want to waste my time or the state’s time,” he said. “I just blocked it out. It’s my past. I’m not gonna sit here and say I remember.”
Furlong objected to Martinez’s previous testimony being read because he said his client shouldn’t have a “trial by transcript.” Furlong said Martinez’s refusal to cooperate was a “constructive recant” of prior testimony.