User:Jorgee829/Sleepy Lagoon Murder

Lead
[Keep as it is] The "Sleepy Lagoon murder" was the name that Los Angeles newspapers used to describe the 1942 death of José Gallardo Díaz, who was discovered unconscious and dying on the ground near a swimming hole (known as the Sleepy Lagoon) with two stab wounds and a broken finger in Commerce, California, on the morning of August 2. Earlier, he was seen at a party for Eleanor Delgadillo Coronado where he left afterwards with his two friends, Luis "Cito" Vargas and Andrew Torres. He was then confronted by a group of friends from the 38th street neighborhood, who came to the party seeking revenge for an earlier beating of some of their friends. (This is what is already on Wikipedia)

Criminal trial
Seventeen people were to be subject to a verdict regarding the death of Jose Diaz. Twelve of these people were declared guilty for the murder of Diaz and and the other five were found guilty of assault. Ysmael Parra was one of the seventeen people who were convicted for the death of Jose Diaz. Parra was sentenced to serve five years to life in prison and was convicted with intent to commit murder. Along with Parra, Henry Ynostroza, Gus Zammora, Jack Melendez, Victor Thompson,  Manuel Reyes, Angel Padilla, Robert Telles, Manuel Delgado and John Matuz all received a five to life in prison after their conviction. Ruiz, Leyvas, and Telles were immediately sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder. Many people fought against these convictions on the basis that there was a racial motivation behind the decisions made for their convictions as the media had been portraying, not only the defendants as criminals, but people of color and Latinos as well.

Activist involvement
During the time of the trials many activists criticized the way that Judge Fricke went about the case. As a result of the manner in which the case was handled, many supported the defendants. Many of the supporters of the defendants turned and created the Sleepy Lagoon Defence Committee. By the time that the defendants began serving their convictions there was already an uproar in how young Mexican Americans were being perceived. Rumors later began to circulate that gang members had attacked many US Navy men. As a result many went around raiding Latino communities and began attacking them in retribution. People who were attacked were people of color or people who wore zoot suits. These attacks later became known as the Zoot Suit Riots.

Reversal
After the Zoot Suit Riots, the convictions of the seventeen people were overturned. There was a lack of evidence to convict the defendants to begin with and it was Diaz’s autopsy report that showed that he was highly inebriated and received trauma to the head, which likely could have been caused by his own doing. However, the convictions did not immediately get overturned. It took the efforts of the SLDC and time in order for the government to finally reverse the initial convictions. The SLDC constantly pushed the idea that the government was an attack on young Mexican Americans and emphasized that these injustices could be fought. Not only did they do this, but they also did what they could in order to try and reverse the views that people had on young Mexican Americans.