15-year-olds hired as cartel ‘gunmen’ who tried to kill victim twice will learn fate

Two teenagers who were acting as hired guns for the Sinaloa Cartel when they committed a pair of shootings in Chula Vista that left two men wounded and one of their accomplices dead were slated to be sentenced to federal prison terms Friday.

Andrew Nunez, 16, and Johncarlo Quintero, 17, pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the March 2024 attacks that occurred outside a Chili’s restaurant and a Chula Vista apartment.

The boys, who were both 15 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of two men on behalf of a Mexican Mafia-affiliated gang based out of Los Angeles County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Both victims were shot, but survived.

Nunez and Quintero also pleaded guilty to murder for the shooting death of their accomplice, 28-year-old Ricardo Sanchez. Sanchez was fatally shot by one of the attempted murder targets in self-defense and under the provocative act murder doctrine, the defendants were held accountable for his killing.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Nunez and Quintero were specifically recruited because of their age, as they would not be prosecuted by the state as adults.

Federal prosecutors are seeking 25-year prison terms for each teen, according to sentencing papers filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Three alleged Sinaloa Cartel associates who prosecutors say were involved in coordinating the murder attempts were later arrested and charged. They are facing prosecution in San Diego and are slated to appear in the same federal courtroom on Friday where the teens will be sentenced.

Prosecutors say the attempted slaying arose out of a cartel war in Tijuana that led to retaliatory murders and a stolen drug load that prompted the cartel to place “hits” on people they believed responsible, including one of the attempted murder victims. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the cartel previously attempted to kill the victim in Tijuana before using contacts in San Diego to stalk and attempt to kill him again.

The defendants drove from Wilmington, in Los Angeles County, to a Chili’s restaurant in Chula Vista, where their target was eating with his family, prosecutors said.

As the victim’s family was leaving the restaurant, Quintero and Nunez drove behind them in the parking lot and Quintero fired one shot that struck the victim in his legs, prosecutors said. Quintero could not fire again because his gun jammed, so the defendants fled, but not before Nunez attempted to strike the victim with their vehicle.

Later that night, the defendants and Sanchez showed up at the victim’s home in another attempt to kill him.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said their target was at a hospital for his injuries from the restaurant shooting, but the victim’s family and a friend of his were at the residence.

When the friend opened the front door, Quintero and Nunez opened fire, striking him in the hand, arm and face, prosecutors said. The victim’s friend returned fire with his own gun, killing Sanchez.

Nunez and Quintero fled the scene, but were arrested later by Chula Vista police.