A man convicted in the North Park shooting death of his ex-girlfriend's fiance -- a Cathedral Catholic High School teacher -- was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 25 years to life.
Jesse Milton Alvarez, 34, was found guilty by a San Diego jury last March of first-degree murder, plus a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, for the Feb. 1, 2021, killing of Mario Fierro outside the victim's Kansas Street home. Fierro, 37, was shot six times as he was preparing to go to work that morning.
Prosecutors said Alvarez killed Fierro after discovering the victim had gotten engaged to Amy Gembara, another CCHS teacher who Alvarez had dated for several years, while defense attorneys argued the shooting was committed in self-defense after Fierro attacked Alvarez.
Gembara stood in solidarity with domestic violence victims as she read a statement to the court.
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“I am ready to leave behind the label of ‘victim’ and trade for ‘survivor,’" she said. "I stand for those whose voices cannot be heard. I stand for women who have experienced domestic violence not here today… who had to deal with men who cannot take no for an answer.”
The prosecution's case centered on Alvarez's admitted fixation with Gembara that lasted well beyond their 2019 breakup, as well as a digital trail of evidence that suggested Alvarez spent weeks researching how to kill Fierro.
"The defendant ambushed the victim and repeatedly shot him to death in a most cowardly and cruel manner,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said. “The victim, Mario Fierro, was a beloved teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School and his death left his school, family, fiancée and community grieving."
More on the case
Describing Alvarez as "jealous, obsessive, and possessive," Deputy District Attorney Ramona McCarthy said Alvarez stalked Gembara after their breakup, prompting her to change addresses and unsuccessfully seek a restraining order against him.
Alvarez also made multiple attempts to obtain employment at the school and was eventually able to secure a food service job, but he was fired on his first day after he was recognized from a security flyer posted on campus.
Upon discovering a social media post announcing Fierro and Gembara's engagement, Alvarez began methodically plotting Fierro's death, according to the prosecutor.
Within a day of viewing the engagement post, Alvarez had tracked down Fierro's home address, searched whether he could hire a hit man, as well as "how to shoot someone at their home address," according to his internet search history. After learning Fierro's address, he traveled to Kansas Street in the middle of the night and took pictures of cars parked along the block in order to ascertain which was Fierro's, McCarthy said.
A flurry of additional internet searches conducted over the next six weeks covered topics ranging from where best to shoot someone on their body to ensure death, how to commit a murder without leaving forensic evidence, and "how to kill your ex's fiance," prosecutors said.
McCarthy said Alvarez planned to kill Fierro on Feb. 1 because he knew that was the first day on-campus instruction was resuming at Cathedral Catholic High School amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She argued that Alvarez anticipated Fierro would leave his home that morning and waited for nearly an hour until Fierro emerged, then shot him in surprise fashion as Fierro was loading the trunk of his car, with his back turned to his killer.
Alvarez drove to Fierro's home in his brother's car and left his cell phone at home, which the prosecutor said signaled his intention to murder Fierro undetected.
Daniella Fierro, Mario Fierro’s little sister, said, “I experienced a wake for the first time when I saw Mario’s embalmed and mutilated body. Therapy bills. I transitioned from being on antidepressants to taking a drug cocktail.”
Alvarez took the stand during the trial and testified that he spontaneously decided to speak to Fierro on the morning of Feb. 1, something he believed would help him move on from his fixation with Gembara.
When he arrived outside Fierro's home, he testified that after he approached Fierro and introduced himself, Fierro "snapped" and attacked him.
Alvarez testified that after Fierro started punching him, he pulled out his gun and begged Fierro to stop, but Fierro tried to grab the pistol. The men grappled over the gun and fearing for his safety, Alvarez ultimately shot Fierro, he testified.
At trial, Alvarez's defense attorneys argued autism that had long gone undiagnosed played a role in his obsession over Gembara and his inability to understand that his behavior was not welcomed or appropriate.
Alvarez admitted on the stand that he was obsessed with Gembara and hurt by the news of her engagement. He testified that while he fantasized about killing Fierro, the internet searches were conducted more as a therapeutic exercise that allowed him to vent his emotions and he had no serious intention of hurting Fierro.
On Wednesday, Alvarez's defense team revived the topic of autism in arguing Alvarez should receive a new trial.
Defense attorney Peter Blair argued that while jurors heard evidence that Alvarez's autism spectrum disorder prevented him from reading social cues and realizing how his behavior disturbed Gembara, jurors should have been allowed to hear evidence that autism caused him to unreasonably perceive that Fierro was a threat.
Blair also argued that a life without parole sentence would be unconstitutional and constitute cruel and unusual punishment for someone like Alvarez, who "suffers so severely from autism spectrum disorder."
San Diego Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein denied Blair's requests at the hearing, which came nearly a year after jurors convicted him. The case has seen numerous delays since then, some of which related to his defense team's efforts to craft a motion for a new trial, as well as several medical-related issues. The latest delay stemmed from a head injury Alvarez sustained in custody on Tuesday morning, just hours before the sentencing hearing was set to begin.
Alvarez spent all of Wednesday's hearing slumped over in a wheelchair with his head on the defense table and did not speak, move, or react throughout.
"It's the court's opinion that everything we've watched in court since the verdict has been theatrics," Goldstein said.
Prior to imposing the life without parole sentence, the judge referred to Alvarez as "a cold-hearted killer" who "lacks empathy" and said it was "obvious to all of us that he sought out Mr. Fierro as a way of inflicting pain on Ms. Gembara."
Gembara did not attend court in person, but made a statement remotely in which she praised her "loyal, genuine, hilarious" fiance, who she said "could light up a room with his energetic spirit."
She said, "That murderer tried to take Mario's light by taking his life. But the thing about light is once you experience it, you are changed by it forever. He took Mario's life, but he cannot ever erase Mario's memories and positive impact."
