BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A jury Thursday convicted two jail inmates who were accused of beating a Mountain View man to death on behalf of their gang.
Pedros Arevalos, 42, of San Mateo was found guilty of first-degree murder of Oscar Umul Xicay, 23, of Mountain View, while Jordan Haase, 39, of San Jose, was convicted of second-degree murder, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Noel Walton.
Walton rested her case against the two inmates on July 28. Since then, the jury of 12 discussed whether to convict them of murder. The jury worked half days, which made the deliberations take longer, according to Walton. The trial looked at the actions of Arevalos and Haase at the Elmwood Jail in Militas on Jan. 27, 2025.
Arevalos allegedly orchestrated an attack on behalf of the Norteno gang because he believed Umul Xicay was a rival gang member from MS-13.
Why he was in jail
Umul Xicay was in jail for shaking a keypad at the Mountain View police headquarters and running from officers 12 hours earlier.
Haase and another inmate allegedly punched Umul Xicay in the shower, kicked him into a window so hard the glass broke and stomped him while he laid motionless on the ground, police said.
Three more inmates helped plan the 14-minute at-tack, keep other inmates away and clean blood from the showers, police said.
Needed immediate surgery
Dr. Marc Lee, the brain surgeon who removed a part of Umul Xicay’s skull, called the surgery a “salvage operation” and said that Umul Xicay likely would’ve had severe brain damage even if he survived.
“It was very, very obvious that he needed immediate surgery,” Lee testified on July 2.
Umul Xicay was taken off life support a week after the surgery.
Others took plea deals
Jose Rufino, 19, of San Jose, was also charged with murder. He signed a plea deal to go to prison for 28 years before he’s eligible for parole.
Jail guards had only seven of 10 positions filled when Umul Xicay was killed, leaving nobody to monitor security cameras, police auditor Julie Ruhlin said in a May 14 report for the Board of Supervisors.
“As seen on video, the suspects had other allied inmates tracking deputy movement, and they ended their assault approximately five minutes before the next scheduled hourly check,” Ruhlin said in her re-port.
Since then, Sheriff Bob Jonsen said he’s added cameras and increased the size of monitors to 40-inch displays that can show multiple camera views at the same time.
The jury will return on Aug. 17 to discuss other charges in the case, according to Walton.
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