David Garcia, 19, was ordered by a judge Tuesday to stand trial on two murder counts in the October 31, 2025, deaths of Kane Roldan, 15, and Elias Yanez, 17, in Chula Vista. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the ruling.
The Union-Tribune reported that Garcia also faces a special-circumstance allegation involving multiple murders, along with charges of negligently discharging a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place or vehicle. If he is convicted of the murder counts and the special-circumstance allegation, he could face life without parole or the death penalty if prosecutors seek it, the paper reported.
In testimony described by the Union-Tribune, a friend of the teens said he and his companions had not been armed or involved in earlier disputes that night. The friend testified that Garcia or someone with him tried to take a chain from him, leading to a fight. Prosecutors allege Roldan and Yanez intervened to help their friend and Garcia shot them. Hearing testimony described one teen as shot in the head and the other in the chest, the paper reported.
The shooting occurred at a house party on East Prospect Street. Chula Vista police said officers were called to the scene on October 31, and both teens were taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, where they died, according to Patch. Garcia, who was 18 at the time, was arrested near his National City home on November 3, 2025, with help from the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force, Patch reported.
