Scottie Tripp, a 28-year-old Black man, was getting ready to go to work with his brother in the early morning hours of January 16, 2021, in their Bakersfield, California, community. At about 5:15 a.m., the brothers were outside their apartment complex in the 800 block of Taylor Street, warming up their car. Scottie realized he had forgotten something and ran back inside.
While he was gone, two men, Jorge Flores and Carlos Trejo, concealed themselves behind a block wall and waited. When Scottie returned to the parking lot and walked toward the car, the men approached him. Trejo asked, “Where are you from?” Before Scottie could answer, Trejo fired seven rounds, killing him instantly. As Flores and Trejo fled on foot, Scottie’s brother pursued them in his vehicle. Trejo stopped, turned, and fired five more shots at the car, striking it before getting away. Police responded to a report of the shooting at 5:25 a.m.
and found Scottie, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators soon determined that Scottie’s murder was part of a larger, gang-related crime spree. Hours earlier, on the evening of January 15, 2021, Flores and Trejo had carried out two other shootings. In one, they shot at a man riding a bicycle near Cottonwood Road and Cannon Avenue, who survived. Later that night, they shot into a car in the 3200 block of Meeks Avenue, killing 27-year-old Vladimir Sanchez and seriously wounding another man who was with him.
On April 21, 2021, Bakersfield Police arrested Jorge Flores, then 23, and Carlos Trejo, then 22. Prosecutors identified the men as active participants in the Norteno criminal street gang and charged them with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and conspiracy for the violent spree that killed Scottie Tripp and Vladimir Sanchez.
The case went to trial, and on January 22, 2026, a Kern County jury found both Flores and Trejo guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. The jury also found true the special circumstances that the murders were committed by lying in wait and in furtherance of a criminal street gang. Both men were also convicted on three counts of attempted murder for shooting at Scottie’s brother and the two other victims who survived the attacks on January 15.
On March 5, 2026, Jorge Flores was sentenced to 129 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His co-defendant, Carlos Trejo, who was also convicted on all counts, faced a life sentence as well. The case was officially closed with the convictions and sentencing as of March 2026.
