Jury Convicts Gang Member of First-degree Murder of Blind Man

By Sarah Harper

Published on December 30, 2008

On December 2, Ruben Alejandro Oliveros, 27, received a conviction of first-degree murder in the 2006 death of legally blind Raffi Yessayan, 26.

According to CNN reports, Oliveros and co-defendants Marco Antonio Charcas-Fernandez and Aurelio Fidencio Saldivar, all members of a Santa Ana gang, had plotted to steal a Nissan sedan belonging to Yessayan, who was a member of another gang but not a rival. On June 6, 2006, Oliveros, the co-defendants, and Yessayan were cruising around in the Nissan (Yessayan was not driving). They got into an argument, which escalated into a fistfight and ended when Oliveros shot Yessayan twice in the head, execution-style, unyielding to Yessayan's pleas for his life. Oliveros and the co-defendants then fled and dismantled the car, which they sold for parts. Joggers discovered Yessayan's body the following morning.

Charcas-Fernandez and Saldivar were charged with special-circumstances murder and other charges; Oliveros with first-degree murder; and three other co-defendants (who helped dismantle the car or hide the murder weapon) with accessory to murder.

Charcas-Fernandez and Saldivar are scheduled to stand trial on January 12, while Oliveros is scheduled to be sentenced on January 9. Oliveros faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

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