Jury deliberations got underway Thursday in the trial of a 24-year-old man accused of shooting and seriously wounding two men during a brawl in a Woodcrest pub parking lot, 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.”
The prosecution and defense delivered closing statements in the nearly two-week trial Thursday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice, after which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang sent jurors behind closed doors to weigh evidence. They adjourned within a couple of hours and were set to resume deliberations Friday.
The defendant is being held on $2 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to a trial brief filed by the 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 no trouble until Jones made critical 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, leveling the pistol at Jones and opening fire.
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 told his friends to get into his car, and they sped away. However, he lost control and crashed in a field in the 18200 block of 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. She 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 to 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. His friends did not attempt to evade law enforcement and cooperated with investigators. None was charged.
Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Favero said Corona was apprehended in mid September 2023 near Guadalajara, Mexico. He was extradited back to the U.S. less than a week later.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.