One pleads guilty in Mose murder case; three to stand trial

One of the four defendants charged in the Jan. 11 murder of 19-year-old Kenneth Mose in Fallbrook has pleaded guilty; the other three remain scheduled for trial in September.

“Enrique Martinez has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a stipulated sentence of 16 years,” said Assistant District Attorney Geoff Allard of the Gang Prosecution Unit.

Martinez, 23, of Fallbrook, previously pleaded not guilty, as did the other defendants, at a preliminary hearing that began July 8.

Allard had presented information during court proceedings that indicate various levels of involvement that the suspects have in a local street gang dominated by Latinos. He said the activities of the street gang meet all requirements to be considered “criminal” in the eyes of law enforcement.

In addition to Martinez, Robert Ramos, 20, Salvador Lopez, 20, and Gonzalo Ordonez, 32, were arrested and charged after the attack on Mose, a young black man from Alabama, which took place late in the evening on Ammunition Road near a fast food restaurant. Mose succumbed to multiple stab wounds a short while later at Palomar Hospital.

“The other defendants remain set for trial on Sept. 7,” said Allard.