POMONA -- A man accused of participating in a fatal car-to-car shooting two years ago was sentenced to 13 years in state prison this week after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter.
Ramiro Hernandez, 19, entered his plea and was sentenced Monday in Pomona Superior Court as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, a passenger in a car Hernandez was driving opened fire on another vehicle on Dec. 19, 2009 near Garey Avenue and Philadelphia Street in Pomona.
The driver of the other car, 21-year-old Edgar Silva, was shot in the head and killed.
Police never arrested a shooter in the case.
Prosecutors initially charged Hernandez with murder under the theory that he "aided and abetted" the gunman, and twice brought his case to trial.
Each trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. In the most recent trial, which ended last month, the jury was split 7-5 in favor of a guilty verdict for murder, said Deputy District Attorney Ian Phan.
The mistrials were a factor in prosecutors' decision to enter into a plea agreement with Hernandez, Phan said.
"We tried it twice, so we figure the interest of justice requires that we settle the case," Phan said.
A man who was with Silva when he was shot testified last year in a preliminary hearing that the shooting came after a brief confrontation with two men who appeared to flash gang signs.
The man said that as he and Silva walked to Silva's home on Philadelphia Street at about 9 p.m., they passed a car stopped at a red light that was allegedly driven by Hernandez.
The car followed them to Silva's home and stopped. Two men inside the car flashed what seemed to be gang signs, and the vehicle drove off, the man testified.
The witness said he and Silva then left in Silva's car. The other vehicle followed them briefly and a man in the front-passenger seat opened fire with a handgun, the witness testified.
Police identified Hernandez as the alleged driver in the incident after receiving a tip that he owned a car -- a 1988 Honda CRX -- that matched the description of the vehicle used in the shooting, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Hernandez also allegedly confessed to a person who later repeated his admission to police, according to a detective's testimony at the preliminary hearing.