Man Sentenced in Slaying of Boy, 14

An Oxnard man has been sentenced to 26 years to life in prison for his involvement in the gang-related shooting death of a 14-year-old boy.

Jason Thompson, 19, had been found guilty of first-degree murder for driving the getaway car used in the Feb. 23, 1995, shooting of Gabriel Alcazar Jr. near K Street and Hull Place, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Greg Phillips. He was sentenced Thursday before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Roland N. Purnell.

Alcazar was in an alley less than a block from his house when he got into a confrontation with Thompson, who was 16 at the time, and Michael Thomas of Oxnard, who was 17.

Alcazar was shot several times and died. Witnesses said the assailants left the area in a small, dark vehicle.

Thompson was in Juvenile Hall in Ventura on an unrelated charge a week after the shooting when police connected him to the crime. Thomas was arrested about the same time in Fresno.

At their preliminary hearing in July of last year, both suspects pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. Although they were minors at the time of the crime, both suspects were tried as adults.

Early on, both suspects claimed to be the driver. Both also fingered the other as the one who fired the shots, Phillips said.

“From the beginning, we had a problem with identification,” Phillips said.

Prosecutors got their break last October, when Thomas admitted he was the shooter. In December, he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Phillips said.