A 23-year-old California man shot and killed two innocent teenagers while they were watching the latest installment of a popular horror film franchise in a nearly empty movie theater during the summer of 2021.
By the end of the bench trial, the facts were not much in dispute. The only questions were whether Joseph Jimenez, Jr. was mentally capable of distinguishing what he did and whether or not his actions were right or wrong on the day in question. A judge ruled the killer sane on Tuesday.
The defendant’s diagnosed schizophrenia, highlighted throughout the trial, was not enough of a mitigating factor in the end.
On July 26, 2021, Anthony Barajas, 19, and Rylee Goodrich, 18, were sitting in Row F of Theater No. 15 to watch “The Forever Purge” at the Regal Edwards Corona Crossings & RPX Movie Theater. Jimenez and three friends were the only other people at that 9:35 p.m. screening.
Joseph Jimenez, Jr. appears inset against the movie theater. (Corona Police Department; Google Maps)
Taking the stand in his own defense, Jimenez identified two voices — Abigail and an unknown friend of hers — who told him he needed to kill the teens sitting several rows ahead of him in order to live.
“We’re going to get you guys,” Jimenez testified he heard, according to a courtroom report by The Press-Enterprise.
At some point, Jimenez left the theater, retrieved a bag containing a gun from inside his car, waited until the credits played, sneaked up behind the pair, and fired.
Goodrich’s wallet was also stolen.
Known on TikTok as @itsanthonymichael, Barajs was a popular influencer on the short-form video-focused social media platform — and on Instagram as well. He graduated from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana; Goodrich had recently graduated from Corona High School when she died. A GoFundMe for Barajas and one for Goodrich was established by both of their families.
Corona Police Corporal Tobias Kouroubacalis said the two victims were found on or near their seats after the film was over — meaning the violent nature of the film macabrely masked the actual violence.
“At some point, the employee or employees walk inside the theater to conduct their cleanup or walk-through and that’s when the 911 call was placed,” Kouroubacalis said during a press briefing after the victims were discovered. “There was an unknown problem, somebody was bleeding, there wasn’t very specific information given.”
Goodrich was killed immediately. Barajas was critically wounded and on life support for several days. He died on July 31, 2021.
During his trial, the state proved that Jimenez ran to his car after the shooting and then drove home. Jimenez was arrested after a search warrant was executed at his residence in El Cerrito the next day.
At first, the defendant pleaded not guilty in September 2021. Later, Jimenez changed his pleas — admitting factual culpability for the murders but insisting he was not guilty by reason of insanity.
“There is no question that the defendant suffers from schizophrenia,” Superior Court Judge Timothy J. Hollenhorst said on Tuesday, according to the paper. “It is also clear to this court that the defendant was not treating his mental health issues appropriately by not regularly taking his medication.”
Defense attorney Charles Kenyon argued, ultimately in vain, that his client was unable to understand what truly happened.
“This is the saddest case I’ve ever seen,” Kenyon told Hollenhorst while holding back tears, according to the Press-Enterprise. “God forbid (Jimenez) is ever restored to his sanity. Then he will know the horrors he has wrought.”
The state, however, had the upper hand.
Prosecutor Kevin Beecham noted that Jimenez regularly received help for his mental illness but ignored his doctor’s orders.
“The discharge orders were always the same — take your medication and don’t do drugs,” Beecham said, according to a courtroom report by Patch.com. “But he does the exact opposite.”
Prosecutors proved the defendant ran out of his medication and did not get it refilled, smoked marijuana, and drank alcohol.
The state also pointed to Jimenez leaving and returning to the theater, for a second time, after the voices stopped and his friends were alerted to his possession of the gun as significant — along with the defendant fleeing the crime scene after as consciousness of guilt.
Earlier that night, Jimenez also asked a concessions worker for her phone number. All that, the state argued — and the judge ultimately agreed — showed the defendant was sane that night.
“This will not bring back the lives of Anthony and Rylee, but it will bring a measure of justice for their families,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
Jimenez is currently slated to be sentenced on Feb. 26. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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