Jury agrees to lesser charge in case of man shot by Costa Mesa police in 2021
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A jury Thursday delivered a verdict in the case of a man shot by Costa Mesa police in 2021 during a convenience store altercation — believed to be a robbery — finding him guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter but not attempted murder.
Gabriel Tamayo Paniagua, 29, of Santa Ana was originally charged with attempted murder, stemming from an incident that took place March 11, 2021, shortly after 4:30 a.m. at a 7-Eleven store on the 2200 block of Fairview Road.
Costa Mesa Police Department reported officers interrupted a robbery in progress, finding Tamayo Paniagua assaulting a cashier with a knife. In addition to a charge of attempted murder, he faced additional felony enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury.
Huntington Beach defense attorney Christopher Hennes painted a different picture of events in an interview Friday.
A commercial robbery Thursday involving a suspect with a knife resulted in an officer-involved shooting — the third such incident to be reported by the department in 40 days.
He said his client was attempting to purchase taquitos and was in the process of attempting to pay but having difficulty inputting his ATM pin number.
The delays apparently frustrated the clerk, seen in video surveillance provided to the court gesturing at Tamayo Paniagua and running to the other side of the counter and physically confronting him with object later identified as a metal rod with a clawed end.
“It was definitely not a robbery,” Hennes said. “Even the clerk/victim said that in an interview [during] the D.A. office’s investigation.”
Surveillance shows the two grappling on both sides of the counter for several minutes before police officers, whom Hennes said were contacted by witnesses, arrive on scene. Failing to drop a knife he was carrying, Tamayo Paniagua was shot three times by a female officer in the torso, chest and arm, the attorney said.
The store clerk reportedly testified he carries a knife, which he described as a box cutter, on his person during his work shifts.
Both men were hospitalized after the incident, police reported. Hennes said Tamayo Paniagua spent several days in the ICU, where he was treated for gunshot wounds. He also sustained multiple stab wounds to his torso and arm, the attorney added.
Hennes said he did not put his client on the witness stand during the trial, as Tamayo Paniagu had no recollection of what took place that day. Jurors found him guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter and confirmed the two enhancements.
His sentencing is scheduled for May 18. Hennes said the charge typically comes with a sentence of more than five years, which could be added onto due to the enhancements, and indicated Tamayo Paniagua has already served 14 months in custody.
“Who knows what he’s going to get sentenced to?” the attorney said, adding, “There may be grounds for an appeal.”
The Orange County district attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
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