A Napa County judge has ruled that there's enough evidence to send Bryan Gomez to trial for murder in the shooting death of Salvador Hernandez, a 20-year-old Concord man found dead beside Monticello Road northeast of Napa last year. Gomez pleaded not guilty to murder and a special allegation of lying in wait to kill, and he remains held without bail in the Napa County jail, according to Napa Valley Register.
Judge Mark Boessenecker made the ruling after a preliminary hearing that began October 29, finding that enough evidence exists to put the 23-year-old Vallejo resident on trial, according to The Napa Valley Register. An earlier report from the same paper had described Gomez as 22 years old, and the discrepancy in his age has not been resolved in court filings. The victim has also been identified in different records as both Salvador Hernandez and Salvador De Jesus Castillo-Hernandez, a 20-year-old resident of Concord, according to CBS News.
A Night That Ended on a Rural Roadside
Prosecutors built their timeline using GPS, cellphone and security-camera data, laying out a detailed account of September 13, 2025, the night Hernandez died. According to the Register's reporting on the district attorney's case, Gomez drove his girlfriend's Toyota Camry to pick up Hernandez from his Concord home between 8:25 and 8:27 p.m., then drove Hernandez and his girlfriend to his own home in Vallejo at about 8:57 p.m.
From there, prosecutors say Gomez spent about two hours driving Hernandez around Napa and Solano counties, with GPS data tracing the Camry through Vacaville, Benicia, Fairfield and Green Valley. By 10:43 p.m., the car was on Monticello Road, and it stopped on the shoulder sometime before 10:52 p.m. At 11:08 p.m., the Toyota briefly stopped at the exact spot where Hernandez's body would later be found — the same moment a nearby resident and his wife reported hearing gunshots, as reported by Napa Valley Register.
Returning Home, Then a Change of Clothes
Gomez made it back to Vallejo and his home by 11:37 p.m., prosecutors said. His girlfriend later told investigators that he asked for a change of clothes once he got back. Early the next morning, according to a court filing, Gomez drove his girlfriend and himself around Vallejo and American Canyon before returning home again at 12:42 a.m. on September 14.
That same morning, a passer-by and sheriff's deputies found Hernandez lying face down with gunshot wounds to his face, neck, arms and hands, the district attorney's office reported. Investigators recovered five cartridge casings near the body, and prosecutors said a bullet later found inside the Toyota matched those casings. The district attorney's office also said an empty bottle of Snapple iced tea found near Hernandez's body was matched to DNA taken from Gomez.
A Fake Facebook Account and a Changing Story
Napa County sheriff's deputies arrested Gomez on September 15, 2025, one day after Hernandez's body was discovered. Prosecutors alleged that Gomez called deputies after learning they were looking for him, then changed his account of his whereabouts several times. He also denied going anywhere near the area where Hernandez's body turned up.
Investigators allege Gomez's behavior afterward went further than simply lying to detectives. Prosecutors say he created a Facebook account impersonating Hernandez and sent friend requests to the victim's acquaintances, and that he invented false stories claiming Hernandez had trouble with alleged gang members. Before driving off with Hernandez that night, prosecutors allege, Gomez told his girlfriend to leave her cellphone behind in the car — something she later told investigators she believed was meant to avoid being tracked, as noted by Napa Valley Register.
Guns, a Lost Job, and More Than 50 Pieces of Evidence
County prosecutors introduced more than 50 pieces of evidence during the preliminary hearing, including crime-scene and body photographs along with social media posts and photos. Gomez claimed not to own firearms, but prosecutors say phone photos show him holding guns, and the district attorney's office said he was dismissed from his workplace after trying to sell one, Napa Valley Register reported: Napa Valley Register.
Defense attorney Benjamin Luke rested Gomez's case without calling any witnesses, according to court records. Gomez is scheduled for his next hearing on December 2, 2026; the court has not yet set a trial date. If convicted of first-degree murder, he could face a lifetime term in state prison with no possibility of parole.
