A Stockton man convicted of gunning down two siblings and an 18-year-old in a 2019 gang-related shooting has been sentenced to three consecutive life terms without parole, plus 75 years to life. Joaquin Cruz was found guilty in November 2025 of first-degree murder in the deaths of David Connary, Tiffany Connary and Remilio Castillo, who were shot near F Street and Finland Avenue in Stockton on March 22, 2019.
According to CBS Sacramento, David Connary was 19, while Tiffany Connary and Remilio Castillo were both 18. David and Tiffany Connary were siblings, and prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from a gang feud. Cruz and an accomplice opened fire on the parked vehicle after Cruz located Castillo near his home, per prosecutors.
The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office said a jury returned its verdict on November 24, 2025, convicting Cruz on all three counts of first-degree murder. The office’s account also says Cruz located Castillo near Castillo’s home while Castillo sat in a parked vehicle with the Connary siblings, and that Cruz and an accomplice then drove up and opened fire.
Investigators Say Siblings Had No Gang Ties
Per the DA’s Office, investigators determined that neither David nor Tiffany Connary were involved in gang activity, a detail that underscores how the violence spilled beyond its intended targets. The office’s account describes the killings as part of a broader feud involving the Varrio Latino Locos, Garden Block Gangsters and East Oak gangs that played out across Stockton from 2017 through 2019, resulting in at least 16 shootings in the city.
The jury also found true firearm, gang and special-circumstance allegations against Cruz, according to the DA’s Office, which specified that those special circumstances included gang-member murder, murder by firing from a vehicle with intent to kill, and multiple murder. Those findings opened the door to the life-without-parole sentence ultimately handed down.
Arrest Came Two Months Later in Oregon
Cruz was arrested in Klamath, Oregon, about two months after the killings and was returned to San Joaquin County to face charges, per CBS Sacramento. San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said Cruz would spend the rest of his life behind bars with no chance of returning to the community.
A separate report from Fox40 described a man sentenced to three consecutive life terms without parole plus 75 years to life for a 2019 Stockton triple homicide, matching the sentence reported in connection with Cruz’s case. For the Connary and Castillo families, the sentencing closes out a case that stretched nearly seven years from the night of the shooting to a courtroom verdict.
