Not-Guilty Pleas in Freeway Shooting

Two men accused in the shooting of a motorist on Interstate 805 nearly two years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of murder.

Edward Estrada, 18, and David Soliz, 24, were indicted by the county grand jury last Thursday.

They are accused of killing 19-year-old Richard Gill on Aug. 26, 1990. Gill had just entered southbound I-805 near California 94 when his pickup truck was hit by two shotgun blasts.

Gill’s father, Solomon Santos Gill, was following in another vehicle and witnessed the shooting. He rescued his son and drove him to Paradise Valley Hospital. Gill was then airlifted to the trauma center at UC San Diego Medical Center but died of his wounds.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Garland Peed refused to provide further details. However, he told Superior Court Judge Frederic L. Link that he has subpoenaed gang documents from the San Diego Police Department. Peed and defense attorneys agreed not to release the information to the public.

Estrada, who was a juvenile at the time of the attack, is also charged with using a firearm, suggesting that he is suspected of being the gunman. Soliz is charged with the vicarious use of a gun, Peed said.

Estrada is being held without bail because he is technically under the authority of the Juvenile Court. Soliz is in custody in lieu of $1-million bail, but his attorney will attempt to have the figure reduced at a hearing Tuesday.

A third suspect in the slaying, 20-year-old Ramon Estrada, the elder brother of the suspected gunman, is being extradited from Hawaii.