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The Baja California court found Jesús Gerardo García, known as El Kekas, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús guilty of aggravated homicide, violent robbery and vehicle theft following a month-long trial that concluded on Friday. Judge Raúl Hernández delivered the verdict in Ensenada, determining that the trio had acted with premeditation in the killings that occurred in April 2024. The defendants, who had been in custody for more than two years, now face sentencing scheduled for October 16, according to court officials. Prosecutors had requested exemplary sentences of 210 years for each man though the maximum penalty under state law is understood to be lower.
The three victims were camping at a remote beach near Punta San José, about 80 kilometres south of Ensenada, when they were attacked in what authorities described as a botched attempt to steal their pickup truck. The surfers were shot in the head and their bodies dumped in a makeshift well on a cliff top, where search teams located them several days later with assistance from the FBI. The incident occurred on April 27 2024, prompting an intensive search after the group failed to check in as planned.
Parents Martin and Debra Robinson travelled from Australia to attend the proceedings and were present for the reading of the guilty verdict. Debra Robinson became emotional upon hearing the outcome while Martin Robinson described the convictions as an important step towards justice in a statement issued after the hearing. “Today’s guilty verdict is a significant moment in our long and painful journey to seek justice for our beautiful sons, Callum and Jake, and their friend Carter Rhoad, whose lives were so cruelly taken from them in 2024,” he said.
The case also involved the girlfriend of the ringleader, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a separate proceeding in November 2025. Ary Gisell Silva Raya admitted to instigating the robbery after noticing the tourists had valuable items including tires and phones on their vehicle, according to the Baja California State Prosecutor’s Office. She received the term for violent robbery after pleading guilty.
The killings sent shockwaves around the world, particularly in Australia, as the coastal area is usually safe from the violence in other parts of Mexico, multiple outlets including CNN reported. INEGI data released in the ENVIPE 2026 survey showed the state’s crime victimisation rate rose 11.9 percent in 2025 even as the national figure declined, with 71.2 percent of residents considering the entity unsafe, according to Uniradio Informa. Despite the trend, violence specifically targeting tourists has been rare in Baja California, which saw homicides drop from a 2021 peak of 3,248 to 1,836 in 2025, local security reports indicated.
Following the verdict the families expressed gratitude for the support received during the emotionally taxing trial that lasted several weeks. The parents noted the continued pain of their loss but highlighted the convictions as providing a measure of accountability before the final sentences are announced next week. Additional evidence presented during the hearings detailed how the victims had resisted the carjacking attempt that escalated into the shootings.
