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On December 15, 2019, Joe Melgoza was celebrating his nuptials in a family member's backyard in Chino, California, when two brothers crashed the wedding reception and beat him to death.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office reported that Rony Castaneda, 31, and Josue Castaneda, 22, were found guilty of the second-degree murder of 30-year-old Joe Melgoza. Authorities said the assault led to Joe's almost instantaneous death from blunt force trauma to the head.
What happened at Joe Melgoza's wedding reception
On the early morning of December 15, 2019, Joe Melgoza was celebrating with his new bride Esther at a backyard wedding reception in the 13300 block of Oaks Avenue when the Castaneda brothers showed up there uninvited.
Joe and Esther got married on December 14, 2019, and the celebrations continued at the wedding reception with a mariachi band, photo booth, bar, DJ, and dance floor.
According to investigators, the Castaneda brothers had no connection to the wedding party but chose to crash it because they lived nearby and heard the celebrations. Authorities said:
"At the reception, the brothers were seen socializing, dancing, and taking photos with female guests."
Witnesses said the party crashers were asked to leave, but they returned armed with baseball bats, resulting in an altercation.
Authorities reported that the Castaneda brothers took a path behind the house where the reception was held and waited in the dark behind a fence. They made antagonizing remarks to Joe and asked him to jump over the fence to their side.
According to a statement from the San Bernardino County District Attorney, when Joe and his family jumped the fence, the brothers started beating them all with bats and fists.
A family member successfully removed a bat from one of the brothers who had run into an unrelated residence, and Joe followed the Castaneda brothers, unarmed, into the yard. After a while, the siblings were spotted leaping over the fence of an unrelated property with a single bat, which was never discovered.
The Chino Police Department responded to calls of a family member being hurt and rushed to the scene. They later located Joe's body in the same yard the Castaneda brothers had run off to.
Josue Castaneda denied his presence at the reception to the police. However, a photo booth picture of him and Rony Castaneda posing with a female guest was found in his front pocket following his arrest. Authorities were also able to track down the brothers with the help of Snapchat.
The siblings were also found guilty of assault on Joe's brother Juan Bustamonte with a deadly weapon. They are scheduled to be sentenced on March 13, 2023.
GoFundMe campaign launched for Joe Melgoza
Alice Alvarez has organized a GoFundMe fundraiser campaign on behalf of Joe Melgoza's mother, Isela Dubon. The campaign post mentions that Joe leaves behind his daughter Lilly. It reads:
"Joe was a loving son, brother, father, cousin, partner, family member, and friend. He always had a way to make you smile. He was there for you at anytime to give a helping hand."
The campaign was set up with a goal of $20,000 but has received about 1.1K donations and raised over $41,000.
