Suspect's kin vanish

Garcia-Gomez's mom, other relatives may have fled to Mexico

Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 16, 2005 at midnight

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LOS ANGELES - The mother of the man accused of killing a Denver police detective and wounding his partner has fled to Mexico, neighbors say, raising speculation that she might have joined her son in his attempt to avoid prosecution for murder by leaving the country.

Neighbors say Gregoria Gomez, mother of suspect Raul Garcia-Gomez, lived in the house on the 6700 block of Makee Street in south- central Los Angeles where her son's alleged getaway car was found.

Neighbors said they saw her leave with four of her other children late Saturday night.

Ismael Goytia, a 26-year-old cousin of Garcia-Gomez who shared the home with the alleged killer's mother, was seen leaving with two large black duffel bags Sunday morning.

"He said he was leaving for Mexico because he was scared after he was mistaken for Raul by police," said Jose Luis Herrera, who lives next door with his family.

Said his wife, Carmina Barajas: "We were glad to see them go. It's been a scary situation having them as neighbors."

Herrera's house was among the dozen or so homes that were searched by police early Thursday morning after police discovered the 19-year-old suspect's white Dodge Neon parked in their neighbor's backyard.

Herrera said his family and several others in a two-block area were rousted out of bed around 2 a.m. Thursday by the sound of an officer's bullhorn. He said police came into their homes and pointed guns at any young man who was the suspect's approximate age, including his own teenage son.

Police said Sunday there were no substantial leads as to Garcia-Gomez's whereabouts.

At a press conference Saturday afternoon, Denver police Division Chief Davis Fisher said he believed the suspect was still in the Los Angeles area.

Goytia said Saturday that police forced him out of his home at gunpoint, thinking he was the suspected killer, and questioned him for hours even after they realized he was not Garcia-Gomez.

He said they took some documents and photographs of the suspect's from the house.

Goytia said Saturday that he had been planning a trip to the small town of Santiago de Papasquero in Durango, Mexico, but the police investigation had delayed his journey.

The Mexican town is home to several members of Garcia-Gomez's extended family.

The white wooden one-bedroom house with neat blue trim that Goytia shared with Garcia-Gomez's mother and her children now sits vacant. Some of the family's belongings remained inside Sunday.

Garcia-Gomez has been the target of a nationwide dragnet since early last week when police identified him in connection with the shootings of Denver Detectives Donald Young and Jack Bishop.

The officers were working off-duty security at a baptismal party at the Salon Ocampo hall in southwest Denver when they were shot from behind in what investigators have called "a cold-blooded" ambush.

Young, a 43-year-old father of three and a decorated member of Denver's police force, was killed.

Bishop, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, survived the shooting.

Authorities have expressed concern that Garcia-Gomez might be headed for Mexico, which does not extradite its citizens when a suspect faces the possibility of a death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Christopher Lee, owner of the apartments where Gregoria Gomez and her children lived about 10 years ago, said he believes she and her accused son are in Mexico.

"She came by a couple of days ago. She dyed her hair blond," said Lee, who also owns a small grocery store downstairs from the apartment he once rented to Gomez and her children.

He said she and her children routinely came by to shop for groceries and candy.

Maria Perez, manager of the apartments where Gregoria Gomez lived with Garcia-Gomez when he was a young boy, described the family as "good and peaceful."

"She had good kids. They were young at the time, but they were well-behaved," she said.

Both Lee and Perez said several of Garcia-Gomez's family members still live in the area, including his aunt and grandmother.

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