Life Without Parole in Golden West Triple Murder

Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Melinda Reed sentenced Cesar Lopez and Mark Aceves, both age 24, to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2020 slayings of three young men during a nighttime drug robbery in Visalia.

Before midnight on May 5, 2020, in the parking lot of Golden West High School, three young men were shot and killed. After a significant investigation by local and state law enforcement, Lopez, Aceves, and Abraham Molina, age 24, were arrested for the crime in early 2022. It is alleged that Molina carried out the shootings.

In a two-week court trial ending on May 12, 2026, Judge Reed found Lopez and Aceves guilty of three counts of murder with special allegations that the crime involved a firearm, that there were multiple murders, and the crime was committed during a robbery.

The court found that both Aceves and Lopez acted as major participants in an attempted robbery by conspiring to commit a robbery knowing that a firearm would be used, selecting a dark and secluded location without witnesses to commit the robbery, planning for the use of a getaway vehicle, attempting to solicit a getaway driver (who declined to participate), not attempting to stop the use of the firearm or render aid to the victims following the attempted robbery, and later conspiring to cover up the crime by destroying evidence.

Molina was severed from the case in early 2026. He is scheduled for his own trial in January 2027.

Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dave Alavezos (559) 636-5494