Yakima police have opened a homicide investigation after a 31-year-old Yakima man wounded in a drive-by shooting last month died from complications of his injuries.
Juan "JJ" Nánez was with an 18-year-old neighbor in the 400 block of East Beech Street late the evening of April 5 when occupants of a passing van yelled obscenities at them, according to the neighbor.
When Nánez swore back, several shots were fired from the driver's side of the van, including one that struck Nánez just below the rib cage.
He remained hospitalized until his death at 4:10 p.m. Monday.
On Tuesday, Nánez's girlfriend, Wendy Nelson, said Nánez was still speaking when he arrived the night of the shooting at Yakima Regional Cardiac and Medical Center, but lost that ability after his first surgery when a tube was placed in his throat.
Lucy Nánez said her brother had four or five surgeries after that and suffered from fluid in the lungs, failing kidneys and complications from infection.
"He would just look around and squeeze our hands, but that was it," she said.
Police said when they responded to the shooting scene, Nánez would not tell them what had happened.
The 18-year-old with him at the time of the shooting said neither knew who was in the van, which appeared to just be cruising through the area. The van, which has not been found, was described as a dark-colored, full-size older model.
Police suspect the shooting was gang-motivated because gang graffiti found at the scene. Nánez's sister said that Nánez was in a gang while growing up in Grandview as a teenager. He went to prison when he was 17, and when he got out 10 years later, he was no longer involved.
Sgt. Joe Salinas of the city's Gang Enforcement Team said the 400 block of East Beech Street is a known as a place where gang members can be found hanging along the street and attracts rivals looking for easy targets.
Police have not identified any suspects. Nánez's sister asks that anyone with information contact police immediately.
"Please, because it's a homicide now," said Lucy Nánez.
The Nánez shooting marks the city's fourth homicide of the year, and the seventh for the county. It is also the third unsolved homicide in Yakima this year.
* Rod Antone can be reached at 577-7628 or rantone@yakimaherald.com.
Know anything?
* Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Yakima Police Department at 575-6200 or Yakima County CrimeStoppers at 248-9980.
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