Last Friday, the trial for two brothers charged with the murder of San Pablo man last year was set Friday for December 11, according to Judge John Sugiyama of the Contra Costa Municipal Court.
Rafael Diaz Valencia, 19, is charged with murdering 21-year-old Jose Cervantes on November 21, 2006. His brother, Hector Manuel Diaz, is charged as an accessory to the murder. Both face prison time, and Valencia may face the death penalty.
The brothers were arrested after their victim named Rafael Diaz as the man who shot him just before he died at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. San Pablo police arrested the suspects that same morning at their homes in Rodeo and Hercules, and they were taken into custody at the Martinez County Jail.
According to Contra Costa Times, at the time, the murder marked the sixth for San Pablo in 2006, which was the highest murder rate since 2003.
