Two take plea deals in fatal park shooting

Jack Farrell Park, city of East Palo Alto photo.

BY AMELIA BISCARDI
Daily Post Staff Writer

Two of the men involved in the fatal shooting at Jack Farrell Park that occurred in broad daylight took plea deals today (Nov. 4), a prosecutor said. 

The shooting on May 17, 2022, killed Ralph Fields Jr., 34. 

Miguel Bracamontes Ruiz, 23 and Michael Tyrone Darrell McNack, 21, both pleaded no contest to felonies related to the shooting, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. 

Ruiz will be sentenced to nine years and four months in prison, but because of time served, he will serve just under eight years, Wagstaffe said. 

McNack was sentenced to eight years in prison, the DA said. 

As for the other two men arrested in the case, Bobby Williams Jr. will be in court on Jan. 24 and Luis Javier Mariscal is in the Santa Clara County jail and no court date has been set for him yet. 

No murder or manslaughter charges have been filed against the four men, this is because in the chaos of the incident, it is hard to figure out who started shooting and who was acting in self-defense, Wagstaffe said. 

“The only way the case got made was that an 8-year-old girl recorded it with her mother’s cell phone,” Wagstaffe said. “When the citizens get involved good things happen for public protection.”

The girl was just one of at least 60 people who were at the park, which is typically a gathering space for youth sports, birthday parties and after-school hangouts. After the shooting, there was a call for cameras to be installed at parks in town.