The prosecution is slated to rest this week in the trial of a 24-year-old man accused of shooting and seriously wounding two men during a brawl in the parking lot of a Woodcrest pub, then fleeing south of the border, where he was apprehended and returned to the U.S.
Bryan Corona of Moreno Valley was arrested in September 2023 following a four-month investigation and search.
Corona is charged with two counts each of attempted murder and firearm assault, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations for the attack on the victims, identified in court documents only as “Mr. Hill” and “Mr. Jones.”
Testimony began just over a week ago at the Riverside Hall of Justice, and the government’s final witnesses were expected to be called before Friday.
The defendant is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, shortly after 1 a.m. on May 20, 2023, Corona and three friends were socializing outside the Flat Top Bar & Grill in the 17900 block of Van Buren Boulevard, near Gamble Avenue, when Hill and Jones walked past them.
There was initially no trouble until Jones made deprecatory remarks about one of the young men, they later told sheriff’s investigators. There was a further exchange of words, prompting Jones to walk aggressively toward Corona’s 2017 Volkswagen Jetta, where the defendant and his buddies were standing, the brief said.
When Corona told the victim to get away from his car, a shoving match ensued and both men threw punches, according to the narrative. Hill attempted to intervene but was apparently perceived as a threat by the defendant’s friends, who engaged him in fisticuffs, culminating in a melee in the parking lot, witnesses told detectives.
A bar security guard observing the fight said it appeared to him that “the defendant and his group were trying to `jump’ Mr. Hill,” whom he knew, along with Jones, both regular patrons, according to the brief.
Within seconds, Hill and the other combatants withdrew, while Jones remained engaged in the altercation, throwing punches at the young men near the passenger side of the Jetta, prosecutors said. Though the victim was unarmed, Corona reached inside his car and pulled out a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, using the top of his car to level the pistol at Jones, and opening fire, the brief alleged.
The defendant allegedly fired five times, hitting Jones once in the lower back, then trained the weapon on Hill, firing three additional shots, striking the victim once in the stomach and once in the right arm, according to court documents.
Corona directed his friends to get into his car, and they sped away. However, he lost control and crashed in a field in the 18200 Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside, less than two miles from where the shooting occurred, according to the brief.
The airbags deployed, and the Jetta couldn’t be restarted. The young men, none of whom suffered injuries, allegedly fled from the location, after which Corona’s girlfriend was contacted and retrieved them in her vehicle a short time later, dropping them elsewhere, having no knowledge of what had happened at the bar, prosecutors said.
Jones was taken Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where he underwent surgery for the gunshot wound and recovered. Hill was treated for his wounds at Riverside Community Hospital, also making a complete recovery.
Prosecutors allege Corona fled to Jalisco, Mexico, that morning. His friends did not attempt to evade law enforcement and cooperated with investigators. None were charged.
Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Favero said Corona was apprehended in mid September 2023 near Guadalajara, Mexico. He was turned over to federal agents for extradition and was booked into the downtown Riverside jail less than a week later.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.