Santa Barbara Jury Convicts Carpas Gang Members of 2021 Double-Homicide

A Santa Barbara jury has convicted two members of the small but particularly violent Carpas street gang of murder in the January 2021 shooting that claimed the lives of two teens. 

After a two-month trial and a full week of deliberations, the jury found Angel Varela, 31, and Oscar Trujillo-Gutierrez, 29, each guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. They face life in prison without parole. The pair was also found guilty of the attempted murder of two additional victims, both of whom were critically wounded in the lower Eastside shooting but survived.

In a separate, bifurcated trial, the jury found Varela and Trujillo-Gutierrez had committed the murders as active members of the Carpas gang, which claims the city of Carpinteria as its territory and whose feuds with Santa Barbara rivals stretch back decades. In addition, they were convicted of felony assault for attacking fellow inmates at the county jail while awaiting trial.

The Sunday-afternoon shooting took place at the intersection of Liberty and Canada streets, with Varela and Trujillo-Gutierrez opening fire with semiautomatic weapons at a group of people. Angel Castillo, 17, and Omar Montiel, 18, were fatally struck. Castillo was shot in the back as he fled. None of the victims fired back. 

Friends and family described Castillo as someone with dreams of one day owning his own auto body shop. Montiel-Hernandez, who had recently graduated from Santa Barbara High School, was “a great big brother who looked out for his younger siblings,” his family said.

At the time, authorities publicly stated that Varela and Trujillo-Gutierrez had “attacked a group of rival gang members.” But in an interview with the Independent, Rita Castillo, Castillo’s mother, emphatically denied her son had any involvement with gangs. 

“I need to set the record straight,” Rita said. “Angel wasn’t perfect. He got into trouble. Everybody does. But he was never in a gang. You can ask anyone who knew Angel; he was never in any gang.”

Rita was 17 years old when she gave birth to Angel. “We kind of grew up together,” she said in the interview. As a child, Angel was calm, sweet, and shy. “He had the best smile,” she said. “Everyone would say, ‘Yeah, I remember his smile.’ ”

In the midst of the pandemic in early 2021, the Eastside was awash in methamphetamine and heroin, neighborhood activists said at the time, adding there had been a spike in robberies, thefts, assaults, and teenagers running away from home. With in-person schools effectively shut down and parents struggling to maintain employment, tensions were giving rise to violence. Just a week prior, a juvenile suffered serious stab wounds during a gang-related fight downtown.

During their arrest of Varela and Trujillo-Gutierrez later that year, police seized several weapons — three assault-style rifles, one revolver, and three semi-automatic handguns — as well as 16 assault-rifle magazines, one high-capacity drum magazine, eight bulletproof vests, 2,400 rounds of ammunition, and gang-related indicia.

“This case involved an extensive investigation and a lengthy court process,” the Santa Barbara Police Department said in a statement today. “Chief Gordon would like to thank the detectives and officers who worked tirelessly during this investigation and also acknowledge the commitment of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, which secured this verdict and brought justice to the victims’ families.”

The department “recognizes the significant impact this case has had on the victims’ families, loved ones, and the community,” the statement continued, “and acknowledges the jury’s careful consideration of the evidence presented.”

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Tate McCallister and Carl Barnes. Sentencing is set for March 24 in Department 12 of Santa Barbara Superior Court.