Shooting suspect makes court appearance

<p>The 19-year-old Healdsburg man accused of fatally shooting his 17-year-old cousin is expected to enter a plea in court Friday, the same day funeral observances begin for the victim, Pedro “Pepe” Gonzalez Ruiz.</p><p>Jose Mendez Gonzalez made his first court appearance Wednesday morning before Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Raima Ballinger, who ordered that a public defender be appointed to represent him.</p><p>Mendez, a butcher, was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder in the death of his cousin, who worked with him at Molsberry’s Market in Larkfield, investigators said.</p><p>A co-owner of the market declined to comment on the case.</p><p>Results of an autopsy Tuesday showed Gonzalez died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso, Lt. Rob Giordano of the county Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday. He declined to say how many times Gonzalez had been shot.</p><p>Investigators on Tuesday found a handgun, believed to have been used in the killing, in heavy vegetation near where Gonzalez’s body was discovered on Westside Road near Forestville, Giordano said.</p><p>Mendez is accused of shooting Gonzalez in that vicinity after the two, who both live at separate homes in Healdsburg, traveled together there in one car, Giordano said.</p><p>The suspect reportedly believed the victim had mistreated him, investigators said.</p><p>Gonzalez worked in the produce section at Molsberry’s and was a popular student at Marce Becerra Academy, a continuation school on the Healdsburg High School campus.</p><p>The Gonzalez family plans to gather at St. John’s Catholic Church in Healdsburg at 7 p.m. Friday for a rosary, followed by a 9 a.m. Saturday funeral Mass there, a spokeswoman for Windsor-Healdsburg Mortuary said. </p><p>You can contact Staff Writer Katy Hillenmeyer at katy.hillenmeyer@pressdemocrat.com.</p>