REDLANDS >> Aaron Mercado, one of the two Redlands teens convicted of the 1992 slaying of Justin Paul Hopper, was released from prison on Oct. 23, confirmed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Tuesday.
His release follows the passage of Senate Bill 260, which requires the Board of Parole Hearings to consider the release of “offenders who committed specified crimes prior to being 18 years of age and who were sentenced to state prison.” Mercado had been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Gov. Jerry Brown passed the bill on Sept. 16, 2013, making Mercado and his accomplice, Ryan Bangs, eligible for parole hearings.
Bangs, now 40, remains behind bars at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, while Mercado, also 40, is residing in a halfway house in Van Nuys, according to the CDCR.
The murder of Justin Paul Hopper
Hopper was killed in “The Badlands” of San Timoteo Canyon in Riverside County on Dec. 15, 1992.
Mercado and Bangs, then 17, lured Hopper, a fellow Redlands High School student and a football star, to a remote area between Redlands and Moreno Valley with the false pretense of swapping guns for drugs, the prosecutor said.
Mercado pulled the trigger, shooting Hopper four to six times with a shotgun, according to police reports.
Hopper’s mother, Valerie Mitchell, and stepfather, Dale Mitchell, reported Hopper missing the next day.
Dale Mitchell discovered Hopper’s body partially buried on Dec. 16 with wounds to the head and upper body. An anonymous tip led to the discovery.
Mercado and Bangs were arrested the next day. Rumors led to the questioning and arrest of the two, said retired Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann, who was the lieutenant in charge of the department’s investigation bureau at the time.
Hopper’s death was a shock to the entire community, Bueermann said.
The Mercados, he said, “had lots of involvement with the school district and local football programs because Aaron Mercado’s father (Henry) was a prominent school board member and somebody we all knew through the football program. It was painful for most of us that were involved in the investigation because not only did this young man lose his life, but the other men’s lives were going to change as well.”
‘He showed no remorse’
Redlands had an average of three homicides a year in the early 1990s and would throw as many resources at an investigation as it could, said Bueermann.
“Our organization value had always been that we owed the person who had been killed our best effort at bringing those responsible to justice,” he said.
During the course of the investigation into Hopper’s death, authorities concluded Mercado and Bangs had planned the murder in advance.
The duo, over lunch with Mercado’s best friend John Bertetto at Del Taco at Citrus Avenue and Redlands Boulevard, had discussed killing Hopper, testified then-Redlands Police Detective David Anady in court. Anady was the lead investigator in the case. He has since retired.
The conversation took place a day before Hopper’s murder, Anady said. They had talked about taking Hopper to the canyon to teach him a lesson and shoot him if necessary.
Bertetto thought Mercado and Bangs were joking and played along, recommending the two cut off Hopper’s hands and remove anything noticeable, specifically tattoos, according to testimony.
Bertetto told authorities Mercado admitted to the murder. Mercado had denied any involvement during questioning.
Then-Riverside Deputy District Attorney Bill Mitchell, no relation to Dale or Valerie Mitchell, tried the case against Mercado and Bangs and said Wednesday it was a case of “spoiled little rich kids” who murdered for thrill.
“(Mercado) showed no remorse. Destroyed evidence. Tried to get away with it. Laughed about it,” he said. “He was totally disrespectful to law enforcement, and during the times when law enforcement were out of the room, he would talk to Ryan Bangs and joke about” the murder.
Trial and conviction
Thirteen days before opening statements into the trial against Mercado and Bangs, Riverside Superior Court Judge Robert D. Macomber denied a request from defense attorneys to try the two separately on Oct. 4, 1995.
Both were tried as adults and found guilty of first-degree murder charges. They were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Because they were juveniles at the time of the murder, Mercado and Bangs were ineligible for the death penalty.
On Oct. 18, 1995, prosecutors played an edited tape of Bangs re-enacting the murder of Hopper, providing an account of the 18-year-old’s last moments.
“As far as Justin knew, we came out here to do a drug trade for guns,” Bangs is recorded saying. But “In my view it was to kick his ass.”
Bangs recalled seeing Hopper hold his left arm above his head and fall back.
“I turned around because that’s not what I was here to do,” he said, adding he heard Hopper shout, “Oh God, please.”
“His teeth was hanging out of his mouth,” Bangs continued. “I just was standing there looking like, ‘Oh my God.’ ”
Bangs flipped Hopper over and took the $590 Hopper had in his left pocket. Bangs then left with Mercado. The two went Christmas shopping the next day with Hopper’s money.
At the request of Mercado’s attorney, William S. Gebbie, any mention of Mercado in the tape was removed.
Mercado was convicted in November 1995 and sentenced on May 13, 1996.
Bill Mitchell described Mercado as a “little demon without a conscience” before the sentencing.
A jury was deadlocked on Bangs’ guilt following Mercado’s conviction in November. A retrial began on April 24, 1996. Bangs was found guilty on May 3 and was sentenced on Nov. 8, 1996.
Los Angeles News Group archives and staff writers Rick Sforza and Doug Saunders contributed to this report.
