EL CAJON – One of two juries hearing the combined trials of two gang members accused of killing rival gang members in a series of 2004 shootings was dismissed yesterday after it deadlocked.

The jury foreman told Judge Allan J. Preckel the panel was unable to break a 7-5 deadlock after deliberating for a week in the trial of El Cajon gang member Jesus Manuel Carrasco. The jury did not disclose whether the majority favored conviction or acquittal.
Preckel scheduled a Monday hearing to determine whether Carrasco will be retried. The judge is scheduled to announce the verdict of the second jury today in the case against the second defendant, Ruben Gomez. That jury reached a verdict last week, but the judge delayed announcing it until the Carrasco case's jury finished deliberations.

Carrasco, 22, and Gomez, 22, are charged with the March 6, 2004, fatal shooting of rival gang member Daniel Menchaca on Millar Avenue. Carrasco also was charged with the April 15, 2004, slaying of Andres Lopez in the parking lot of a North Mollison Avenue apartment complex