A 47-year-old man gunned down a man and his girlfriend in their mobile home for no reason in Santa Ana and then returned to burn down the residence, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday, while the defendant’s attorney said police did “sloppy” work on the case and got the wrong suspect.
Jason Blanchard is charged with two counts of murder and single counts each of arson and possession of a gun by a felon, all felonies. He also faces special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and enhancements for the discharge of a gun causing death.
Blanchard is accused of killing 30-year-old Steven Christian Lucero and 33-year-old Jullian Alise Jones on June 10, 2022.
One of the main witnesses for the prosecution, John Acosta, was given use immunity Monday to testify, meaning what he says in testimony can’t be used against him by prosecutors.
Blanchard and Acosta went to the home at 5002 W. McFadden Ave. in the afternoon and confronted Lucero, who had just a towel around his waist, Senior Deputy District Attorney Casey Cunningham said at the defendant’s preliminary hearing.
Acosta told police Lucero said, “Who are you?”
Blanchard drew his gun and said, “I’ll show you who I am,” Lucero told investigators.
Lucero put his hands up and was backed up into the bedroom where Jones was, and Blanchard then slammed the gun on Lucero’s head, triggering the weapon and appearing to strike Jones, according to police testimony at the preliminary hearing. Acosta ran out and heard Lucero say, “What the (expletive) did you do?” police testified at the preliminary hearing.
Acosta told police he heard more gunshots and the two fled the home in Blanchard’s car, and when Blanchard said he wanted to return to the scene Acosta said he wanted out, police testified.
Cunningham said a woman overheard voices before the shooting and recognized Blanchard’s when she saw him later and spoke with him. She said she overheard another male voice saying, “Did you just kill her?” before hearing two more gunshots, according to Cunningham.
Blanchard changed his clothes and returned to the mobile home about 10 p.m. and is seen with a gas can on surveillance video, Cunningham said.
“As the video progresses you’ll see the light from the flames,” Cunningham told jurors. Blanchard is seen jogging away from the fire, Cunningham added.
Lucero sustained a gunshot wound to the back of his head and Jones was shot on the side of the head, Cunningham said.
Another witness who has a criminal history of drug dealing told investigators she saw Blanchard later at a motel in Orange and when she asked him about a gauze bandage on his neck he told her it was a burn wound, Cunningham said. Then Blanchard admitted to killing two people earlier in the day before sparking the blaze, Cunningham said.
“The evidence is going to show he went to the residence and was unwelcome,” Cunningham said. “He pulled out a gun and shot two victims for no reason … and came back to destroy the evidence.”
Blanchard’s attorney, Sara Ross of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, said, “John Acosta shot two people. .. We’re here because of … the sloppy police work of the Santa Ana Police Department.”
The trouble began when a homeless man’s pickup truck was stolen June 8, 2022, Ross said. All of the man’s belongings were in the truck so he wanted to get the vehicle back, Ross said.
When the man found out Lucero, a friendly acquaintance, had stolen the truck he went to track him down, Ross said. He found out the truck was sold to a man known as Boo Boo, Ross said.
Blanchard and Acosta, who were also acquaintances of the man, went to Boo Boo’s home in Westminster to discuss the truck, Ross said. They then went to Acosta’s Home in Fountain Valley and were hanging out and smoking meth before Acosta and Blanchard drove to the mobile home park, Ross said.
Ross showed jurors a still from surveillance video that indicated Acosta was running from the scene of the shooting clutching what appears to be a weapon, she said.
Ross faulted police for not obtaining cell phone data for Acosta’s movements at the time of the shootings.
“They don’t obtain location data for Acosta,” Ross said. “They don’t bother to get John Acosta’s social media messages.”
At one point when questioning him, “They look through his phone and hand it back to him,” Ross said. “They never found out he has a burner phone.”
And investigators, despite a “thorough search” of the crime scene, didn’t find Jones’ body for four days, Ross said.
“This is the sloppy police work we’re talking about,” Ross said. “So they cleared the crime scene and let people come and go.”
Much of the evidence in the case for prosecutors is “a bunch of crooks and liars,” Ross said.
The woman who said she overheard Blanchard’s voice at the shooting “gives police multiple, conflicting stories,” the attorney said.
The woman who said she spoke with Blanchard at the motel has a “lengthy criminal history, including fraud,” Ross added.
“And who’s their star witness? That’s John Acosta who’s seen running from the home, pulling out what’s suspiciously looks like a firearm,” Ross said.
Acosta also has a criminal history, Ross said.
A forensics expert is expected to testify that evidence from the crime scene does not match what “John Acosta said happened,” Ross said.
“The government’s case is based on sloppy police work and testimony from crooks and liars,” Ross said. “Jason Blanchard didn’t kill those people.”