{"id":314857,"date":"2026-05-14T04:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/314857\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T04:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:35:09","slug":"father-and-son-to-face-trial-in-southeast-fresno-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/314857\/","title":{"rendered":"Father and son to face trial in southeast Fresno killings"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Judge found sufficient evidence to proceed to trial for Gerardo and Leobardo Zurita.Victims Stacy Zurita and Raul \u201cBobby\u201d Nunez were shot July 8, 2022 at about 11:30 p.m. in southeast Fresno.Leobardo faces life without parole and may face the death penalty; decision not made.<\/p>\n

A Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial for a father and son charged with killing two people, one of whom was an immediate family member.<\/p>\n

Gerardo Zurita, 44, and his 23-year-old son, Leobardo Zurita, face charges of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Stacy Zurita, 21, and her boyfriend, Raul \u201cBobby\u201d Nunez, 25.<\/p>\n

The couple were killed on July 8, 2022, at about 11:30 p.m. in the area of East Iowa Avenue and North Eighth Street in southeast Fresno.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Leobardo Zurita faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus the possibility of the death penalty because there were multiple victims and he allegedly shot from a moving car. The decision on whether to pursue the death penalty has not been made.<\/p>\n

Gerardo Zurita could be imprisoned for 50-years-to-life if convicted on all charges.<\/p>\n

Both Zuritas are scheduled to return to court July 9 for arraignment.<\/p>\n

Witnesses testifying during the Zuritas\u2019 preliminary hearing recounted seeing a fight between Nunez and the Zuritas outside the home of Stacy Zurita.<\/p>\n

Robert Rubio, one of Nunez\u2019s brothers, was there that night along with two more brothers, his mother and father. They came after Nunez called them to say somebody was after him.<\/p>\n

When they arrived, they rushed out of the family\u2019s car toward Nunez. One of the brothers was carrying a baseball bat. It\u2019s unclear who used it and whether either of the Zuritas was hit.<\/p>\n

After the fight was over, everyone appeared to accept the outcome, Rubio said. \u201cWe like squashed it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe said we are cool and we like didn\u2019t have any more problems with them. The fighting had stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Zuritas got into their car and drove a short distance before making a U-turn. Rubio said he remembers standing in the middle of the street when the Zuritas\u2019 car sped back toward them. As he watched it come closer, he heard multiple gunshots come from the car.<\/p>\n

Senior Deputy District Attorney David Olmos asked how many gunshots did Rubio heard. He said he wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t exactly remember how many, I just know it was multiple,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n

Defense attorneys Margarita Martinez-Baly and Miles Harris tried to show the Zuritas were outnumbered during the fight and fled for their own safety.<\/p>\n

The attorney\u2019s also questioned family matriarch Leandra Rubio about the $152,000 the family has received since 2022 for being in the state\u2019s witness protection program<\/a>. The money pays for rent, food and other expenses.<\/p>\n

\"Stacy Stacy Zurita and Raul \u201cBobby\u201d Nunez FRESNO POLICE DEPARTMENT
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Rodriguez<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

A Valley native, Robert has worked at The Fresno Bee since 1994, covering various topics including education, business, courts and agriculture.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom. Read our AI Policy. Judge found sufficient evidence to proceed to trial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-314857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}