Defendant convicted of fatally shooting two men at a Fontana park
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A Fontana man was convicted Friday of shooting and murdering two men at a park in Fontana.
A jury found 22-year-old Roberto Colon guilty of two counts of murder. Victor Hernandez, 22, of Pomona, and Robert Ruiz, 22, of Upland, were both killed in the 2016 incident.
Colon faces 100 years to life in state prison when sentenced May 11, 2018 in Dept. R-4, Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court.
In Dec. 2016, Colon found out that his girlfriend was contacted by an ex-boyfriend on social media, so he decided to confront the ex-boyfriend about the messages. The ex-boyfriend and the defendant didn’t know each other but they both sold drugs. Colon decided to set up a drug deal as a ruse to have a face-to-face meeting with the ex-boyfriend.
According to Deputy District Attorney Cassandra Helmuth, who prosecuted the case, the defendants contacted the ex-boyfriend on the social media app, Snapchat, using an assumed identity and asked to purchase some cocaine. The ex-boyfriend agreed to sell the defendant one ounce of cocaine for $1,000.
The following evening, the defendant went to the pre-arranged location with only $40 and a loaded gun, but the ex-boyfriend had arranged to have his friend, Victor Hernandez, sell the drugs. When Hernandez arrived, along with his friend, Robert Ruiz, Colon got into the backseat of their car.
“Four minutes later, the defendant pulled out his weapon and shot Ruiz in the back of the head and then turned to the driver and fired his weapon,” Deputy District Attorney Helmuth said. “Hernandez ducked down so the first shot missed. But the defendant fired again and hit the victim in the back of the head.”
This case was investigated by the Fontana Police Department.
Contact: Christopher Lee, Public Affairs Officer (909) 382-3665 or via email at clee@sbcda.org or via text at (909) 782-5559
