On March 18, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber-Salazar announced that her office is filing hate crime charges against a man and woman suspected of killing Justin Peoples on March 15.
Christina Lyn Garner and Jeremy Wayne Jones have been charged with one count each of first-degree murder, weapons enhancements and hate crime special circumstances.
Officers were called to a gas station on March 15 for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found Peoples suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
During the investigation, details came out that Peoples was involved in a confrontation with Garner and Jones before the shooting, and officers found the two at their home on March 16 and arrested them without incident.
Christopher Dimenco was arraigned on March 18 on accessory after-the-fact charges for attempting to help Garner and Jones escape. All three are being held without bond.
Investigators don’t know why the altercation started at the gas station, but in a complaint filed against Garner and Jones, prosecutors alleged that Peoples was killed because of his “race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin.”
Peoples was a youth pastor with a local church and worked two jobs delivering auto parts and packages. He also had two sons.
