Caldwell gang member told a judge Monday he shot two people in one day in July 2007

Caldwell gang member told a judge Monday he shot two people in one day in July 2007 – one for revenge and one because of mistaken identity.One victim was a woman who just happened to be behind the door of a trailer in Wilder and the other was a rival gang member stopped in the drive-through line at a Caldwell restaurant, Ricardo “Richie” Espinoza Jr. said.Espinoza, who turned 18 in December, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery – a lesser charge than the attempted murder charges he initially faced. Deputy Canyon County Prosecutor Ellie Somoza recommended at least five years in prison, with a maximum of 15 years. Defense attorney Randy Grove said he will seek a lighter sentence but hasn’t made a specific recommendation.Shackled and clad in orange jail garb, Espinoza was calm and matter-of-fact as he recounted his actions that July day.Early that morning, Espinoza said, he and friends headed to the Wilder home of his sister’s ex-husband, who had sent him messages “threatening to kill my family.” His plan, he said, was to get the man outside so his group could “jump him,” but as the trailer door started to open a friend threw a Molotov cocktail into the trailer and it burst into flames.The ex-husband “is known to have a gun, so I turned around to take off running and started firing. The bullets went through the door and hit her in the stomach,” Espinoza said. The person behind the door was the intended victim’s younger sister, he said.
He used the same .22 caliber handgun late that night, when he and his friends spotted a teenager sitting alone in his car at the Caldwell Wendy’s, he said.“I walked to the passenger side of the car and started shooting,” he said. The victim suffered wounds to his arm, shoulder and rib cage.Asked why he shot him, Espinoza replied: “It was gang-related and it was my understanding that the person had beat up a female member that was in my gang. It was revenge for that.”