Two men involved in a 2020 shooting at Hoover Park that left one teenager dead and another injured were sentenced to decades in state prison recently.

Arturo Mendez-Perez, 24, and Jayson Elkins, 26, both of Salem, pleaded guilty in separate cases to charges stemming from the killing of Andrew Ray Rosas, an 18-year-old described by prosecutors as having the bad luck of being in the park that night.

The shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. on Sept. 22, 2020, at the Hoover School Park, located at 1250 Savage Rd. N.E., according to Marion County Circuit Court Records. Another teenager, identified in court records as Rosas’ girlfriend, was injured in the shooting.

On Oct. 3, Mendez-Perez pleaded guilty in Marion County Circuit Court to first-degree attempted murder, first-degree manslaughter and two counts of first-degree robbery.

In January 2023, Elkins pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder, first-degree manslaughter and possessing a firearm as a felon, according to court records.

Marion County Circuit Judges Thomas McHill and James Edmonds sentenced the men last month. 

McHill sentenced Mendez-Perez Oct. 3 to 32 and a half years in prison. Edmonds sentenced Elkins Oct. 27 to 15 years, court records show.

Elkins has been in custody at the Oregon State Correctional Institute since July 2023 after receiving a five-year sentence for the firearm possession charge, records show. With credit for time served on the firearm conviction, Elkins will serve an additional 10 years in prison on concurrent sentences for attempted murder and manslaughter.

Both men were also sentenced to three years of post-prison supervision.

Previous public statements by law enforcement about the shooting contained few details about what led up to it, but court filings share more on what happened.

The night before the shooting, Mendez-Perez and a group of his friends were shot at by people they believed were in a gang called “Savage,” a Jan. 21 filing by Marion County Deputy District Attorney Katherine Semple said.

Mendez-Perez and Elkins went out the night of the shooting to find Savage gang members and “beat them up or scare them,” the filing said.

Elkins started the argument with Rosas, who was at Hoover Park with another teenager, because he thought Rosas might be connected to the gang, according to Semple’s filing.

Mendez-Perez attempted to rob both victims and used a gun to threaten them, according to an indictment. Both Mendez-Perez and Elkins shot the victims, killing Rosas and wounding his girlfriend, court records show.

Police arrested Elkins Nov. 3, 2020, while Mendez-Perez was arrested in July 2023, nearly three years later, according to court records. 

Mendez-Perez is currently in custody at the intake center at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.

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Salem man charged with murder for September shooting at Salem park

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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