Hate crime suspects in Tracy gas station murder appear in court

Three white suspects facing murder and hate crime charges in connection with the death of a Black man at a gas station in Tracy last month made their second court appearance Monday.

Co-defendants Christina Lyn Garner, 42, of Manteca, and Jeremy Wayne Jones, 49, of Stockton, along with Christopher Dimenco, 52, who was arraigned on accessory charges, did not enter pleas during Monday’s hearing in San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton.

The hearing was continued to April 25, when bail will be discussed for Garner and Dimenco, and pleas will be entered for all three suspects, according to their attorneys.

Garner and Jones were arraigned in late March on murder charges with special circumstances alleging that the killing of 30-year-old Justin Peoples, of Stockton, was a hate crime, according to prosecutors.

Many of Jones’ tattoos are associated with white supremacist groups, according to photos released by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.

On March 15, shortly before 9 p.m., the Tracy Police Department responded to a gas station on North Tracy Boulevard on reports of a man suffering from gunshot wounds.

Officers located Peoples on the floor with a gunshot wound to his upper body and multiple stab wounds and transported him to a hospital where he died two hours later, according to police.

Police said a confrontation occurred before Peoples was shot, but the victim didn’t know the suspects.

Garner and Jones were later arrested in the 1500 block of De Ovan Avenue at 9:15 a.m. following the serving of search and arrest warrants by authorities at the property. Dimenco was also arrested for harboring fugitives.

Peoples’ father said his son was a graduate of San Joaquin Delta College and had served in the military.

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