Update: Santa Barbara Jury Convicts Stearns Wharf Shooter of First-Degree Murder in Second Trial

[Updated: Wed., July 22, 2026, 3:56pm]

On Wednesday morning, a Santa Barbara jury unanimously convicted Jiram Tenorio-Ramon, 26, of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Camarillo man Robert Dion Gutierrez, 52, on Stearns Wharf on December 9, 2022.

Gutierrez and his family were visiting Santa Barbara from their home in Camarillo on the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary, when a walk on Stearns Wharf turned deadly. Gunfire erupted, and Gutierrez was fatally shot from behind. According to visual evidence and Harbor Patrol testimony, a Harbor Patrol officer had rushed to the scene and attempted to save his life as his wife knelt and wept around his body and the killer fled the scene.

Fast-forward almost four years. Inside Department 2, up the ornate spiral staircase of Santa Barbara’s Courthouse, where weddings and tours abound, Ramon, represented by public defender George Steele, appeared in court for his second trial regarding that December night on the wharf. His first trial in 2025 left a hung jury (11 to one) following about two weeks of deliberations and ended in mistrial.  In Ramon’s retrial, the new jury found him guilty in less than a day of deliberations following two days of closing arguments, which concluded Tuesday.

Inside the courtroom this week, Ramon’s wife, daughter, mother, father, and supporters sat in cushioned leather seats, some listening on headsets to the Spanish-language translator speak the words of the court into their ears. During District Attorney Tate McCallister’s closing remarks, some members of his family were shaking their heads as the prosecutor listed the reasons the jurors should convict Ramon unequivocally of first-degree murder.

The timeline of evidence started back in March 2020, about two years before the shooting. In a previous trial, Ramon had admitted in a statement that he had been fighting on behalf of the Westside Gang. At the time, he was not a member.

McCallister presented a series of photos, text messages, Snapchat conversations, and Instagram posts and direct messages, which flashed across the projected screen: a picture of Ramon on the Cacique foot bridge — in the heart of rival Eastside gang territory — with a gun; a photo on Instagram showing Ramon posted up with Westside gang members flashing the W gang signs on Leadbetter Beach; a picture of a ghost Glock with unusual transparent magazines that matches the murder weapon along with correlating messages in which Ramon is arranging to buy it; and messages between Ramon and Westside gang members where he says he wants to head to the Goleta Projects Gang turf and “do some work.”

McCallister claimed that this evidence — all from before the shooting occurred — reasonably implies that Ramon was “putting in the work” to become an official member of the Westside gang, that he was looking for an opportunity to prove himself.

Meanwhile, Ramon’s 3-year-old daughter sat on the courtroom floor at the feet of her family, braids decorating her long black hair, quietly playing and coloring. She was reportedly born after Ramon was incarcerated, not aware that she is bearing witness to her father’s murder trial.

The talk shifted to the night of the shooting.

Both McCallister and Steele reported that Ramon and three friends — Ricardo Tomas Jauregui-Moreno (a confirmed Westside gang member), Christopher Dave Miranda, and James Lee Rosborough — had been up at Painted Cave drinking and smoking weed when they decided to head down to Stearns Wharf. Defense attorney Steele said that they were “kids being kids. Kids having fun.”

The four drove onto the pier to continue drinking and smoking when they decided there was too much foot traffic to continue imbibing, so they turned around and started driving off. Along the way, they crossed paths with a group of nine teenagers “dressed like gangsters,” according to testimony from one of the three friends in the car. It turned out that two were members of a gang in Ventura.

From inside the car, Jauregui-Moreno flashed the Westside gang sign, and Ramon allegedly told the driver to pull over. “Fuck it. Let’s get ’em,” Ramon reportedly said based on testimony from his friends. 

The car pulled over just past the entrance of Stearns Wharf, and Jauregui-Moreno and Ramon jumped out, Ramon with his gun in his pocket. 

Video footage from the kiosk on the wharf paired with audio from Chad’s restaurant on Cabrillo Boulevard shows Ramon and Jauregui-Moreno leave the car and move across the entrance of the wharf, where bikes and pedestrians cross. When the first shot rings out, Jauregui-Moreno bolts across the frame. As the following three shots are fired, Ramon continues walking, drawing his gun, and moving in a collected way. Ramon approaches the trees and bushes, where he stops. 

On the other side, the video shows two of the Ventura teens approach the kiosk, shooting four rounds after they see Jauregui-Moreno and Ramon crossing the road. As each shot is fired, the pair backs up and uses the kiosk as cover before immediately retreating. 

According to video footage and the location of the shell casing, Ramon aimed the Glock using fluorescent sights to target Gutierrez 210 feet away, as he was walking down the pier. The teenagers who had shot at him by that time had run to the opposite side of the wharf from Gutierrez. Then the fifth shot was fired, fatally hitting Gutierrez.

Steele asserts that Ramon had fired the gun in self-defense — that with four bullets fired at him and one whizzing past his ear, Ramon was justified in returning fire. McCallister countered, saying that Ramon hopped out of that car looking for a fight and to prove himself for the Westside Gang.

After the shooting, Ramon went to Rosborough’s home, where Rosborough testified that Ramon admitted to shooting Gutierrez, thinking he was a rival gang member, and then went on to brag about it to his friends. He allegedly told Miranda via messages, “You’re my crimie now” — a slang term for someone who commits a crime alongside another person — and “Don’t say shit.”

An Instagram video posted after December 9 started playing on the screen: the defendant performing an original rap with lyrics referencing that night on the wharf.

“Is you really down to kill or you just doin’ it for show? / And now you got your name up and you’re really doing things / Was it really worth it? Fuck a n***a, you’re a G.”

In court, Ramon sat stone still, back to the crowd, only moving to glance up at the screen. His slicked-back hair covered the majority of his Brutero tattoo he got in 2021, the black ink covering the entire back of his neck. Another common Santa Barbara gang tattoo covers the top of his left hand, the words “Anybody Killa” etched before the shooting.

Hidden by his suit jacket, a “Westside” tattoo streaks across his chest, signifying that Ramon is now officially a member of the Westside gang, a distinction he received after the killing on Stearns Wharf. Two smaller tattoos that look similar to the MLB logo adorn the front of his neck near his Adam’s apple and his forearm.

In gang culture, these two tattoos are seen as monikers, badges that are earned. On his neck lies one called a “Major League Hitter,” signifying that he has gone up to bat for the gang before. The second on his forearm depicts a person in a baseball cap wielding an assault-style rifle — known as a “Major League Shooter” moniker — and reportedly denotes that the wearer has shot and killed a man.

Ramon got his chest tattoo and two monikers after the killing of Gutierrez and after he was arrested.

More images flashed up on the screen, this time photos from inside Ramon’s jail cell. The word “Murder” was written on his cup, in his books, on paperwork, carved into his table, and literally written on the wall of his cell next to a picture of Jesus.

After quick deliberations, the jury decided to convict Ramon of first-degree murder and added gang enhancements finding that he had committed the murder to benefit the Westside gang.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 29. Ramon faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect that the jury reached a verdict after the original publishing date. It was also updated to state that Gutierrez’s daughters were not at the scene of the murder; that Jauregui-Moreno, not Rosborough, was the one that threw a Westside gang sign; and that Jauregui-Moreno got out of the car with Ramon, not Miranda, as well as to reflect that only two of the nine Ventura teens were members of a gang.