Before the sentencing hearing began Monday in the case of 30-year-old Justin Peoples, his father walked the hallways of San Joaquin Superior Court in Stockton with his hands full.
Maurice Peoples, the father of Justin Peoples, carried a shirt on a hanger. The white T-shirt bore his son’s face and a mint green rosary. He also held posters with memories of his son’s life.
It was the day he, the mother of Justin Peoples, and other family members would deliver victim impact statements and hear the sentences for the defendants in the case.
It had been more than three years since Justin Peoples was killed at a Chevron gas station in Tracy on March 15, 2022. Monday also marked the third birthday of Justin Peoples’ youngest child, whom he never got to meet.
“He has never got to see his father,” Maurice Peoples said. “He will never get to see his father.”
Violent encounter leads to death
Justin Peoples was killed after entering the gas station by Christina Lyn Garner, 45, and Jeremy Wayne Jones, 53, who have been convicted in his death.
Justin Peoples entered the gas station to get change for his laundry, but when he walked inside, he and Garner briefly bumped shoulders.
Garner said in court testimony that the interaction between them was “no big deal.” But when she returned to her truck, she told her co-defendant and boyfriend about the encounter.
She said Jones immediately jumped out of the truck, said, “He owes you an apology,” and entered the store.
Jones was seen in surveillance video approaching Justin Peoples at the counter. They spoke briefly, and shortly afterward, a physical altercation began.
During the fight, Justin Peoples sustained 18 sharp-force injuries from a knife, according to the San Joaquin County chief medical examiner.
Garner ultimately entered the store, shot Justin Peoples in the head, and fled with her co-defendant.
Justin Peoples was left on the gas station floor and was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
‘Justin’s life mattered’
The court gallery began to fill as Justin Peoples’ family and supporters entered the courtroom, many holding posters of him.
Tracy Police Department Chief Sekou Millington and two former jurors who had heard the case were also in attendance.
As everyone took their seats, Justin Peoples’ father and girlfriend held a large banner.
“Justice 4 Justin Peoples People Against Racial Violence,” read the banner. A photo of Justin Peoples and his father appeared in the background.
Other posters and photos from Peoples’ graduation and military days were placed in the seats where the jury had once sat. Inmates Garner and Jones entered the courtroom in orange jumpsuits.
In the gallery behind Garner and Jones sat the third defendant, Christopher Dimenco, Garner’s uncle. His daughter sat beside him as he was told he needed to be present to hear the impact statements.
He pleaded guilty Monday to being an accessory after the fact in the death of Justin Peoples.
Before victim impact statements were read, Garner’s public defender, Judyanne Vallado, read a statement from her client to Peoples’ family.
“There are no words that can undo the pain that I have caused your family. I want to acknowledge it fully and without excuses. My actions took Justin from you,” Garner said in the statement. “I’m responsible for causing the loss that no family should endure. I know an apology can not bring Justin back, nor can it heal the wounds I have created.”
She said Justin Peoples’ life mattered and that he should still be here.
“I am so so sorry,” Garner said in the statement.
Defendant Jones did not read or submit a statement during the hearing.
‘March 15 will forever be a day of pain for me’
The first person to speak about Justin Peoples was his sister. She said her brother was her favorite person in the world and remembered him as smart.
She recounted her favorite memory with her brother, when he taught her to count change. She said she was always happy to see him.
“When I found out my brother was killed, I was so devastated. I’ve never felt heartbroken before. It was terrible for me, and I felt like everything was going downhill for my life after his death,” Peoples’ sister said. “My last moment with him was telling him that I was in a band in my school, and he said that he would see me perform, but he never got to.”
The next speaker was Justin Peoples’ father, who spoke directly to Garner and Jones, although they stared straight ahead.
“My name is Maurice Peoples. I’m the father of Justin Peoples, who Jeremy Jones and Christina Garner viciously killed,” he said.
He said his son was a very smart and well-educated man who was a mathematical genius. Justin Peoples had graduated high school with honors, attended San Joaquin Delta College, and joined the military as an air traffic controller.
“He was very much of an asset in this community,” Maurice Peoples said. “He hadn’t started his life really. He really hadn’t started his life before his demise, before two people took his life in a violent and heinous manner.”
“I miss my son,” Maurice Peoples said after describing Justin Peoples.
His son was also a brother to seven siblings and the father of three children.
Before ending his statement, Maurice Peoples pleaded with the judge.
“Your honor … I just ask you to give whatever maximum sentence you can give to Mr. Jones and Mrs. Garner, and may God deal with them in the way he would like to deal with them, because I wash my hands of Jeremy Jones and Christina Garner,” Maurice Peoples said.
The third person to speak was Justin Peoples’ mother, Gineene Everson, who sat down to deliver her statement, saying her legs felt too weak to stand.
“Justin is my baby boy, my youngest,” she said. “My son Justin was tenacious and driven by the goals he desired to achieve. Justin gave us so much joy watching him accomplish his goals.”
She said her son was fun, loving and caring toward her, a child who never forgot to give her a birthday or Mother’s Day card.
“I thank God I saved each one because most days his cards are all I have to console me,” Everson said.
She read a letter her son wrote to her while he was in the Navy to the court.
Throughout her statement, Everson cried over the loss of her son.
Everson said she not only lost her son in March 2022, but also her father that same month. She said Justin Peoples had been helping her prepare for the funeral the day he was killed.
“Justin said his goodbyes and I walked him to the door,” Everson said. “Justin, towering over me, bent down to give me his famous hug and kiss, saying, ‘I love you ma. I’ll see you later.'”
She recalled telling him she loved him and told him to be safe. A short time later, she began receiving frantic calls about her son being shot.
After Justin Peoples died, his mother said she was numb. She felt that it was unbelievable and that parts of her that had been broken by her dad’s passing became shattered from her son’s murder.
The jurors present could be seen crying and holding hands during the impact statements.
“March 15 will forever be a day of pain for me,” Everson said. “After everything I heard and seen, I am left with not only the good memories of my son, but I’m left with the visions of seeing my son brutally stabbed … shot in the head execution-style.”
Among those who spoke at the hearing was Justin Peoples’ girlfriend, who was waiting for him in the car on the night of the fatal shooting. She said she stood in the courtroom because she wanted everyone to know how much pain Garner and Jones caused.
“That night was the worst night of my life,” she said.
She said following the death, she fell into a deep depression, lost her job and continued to struggle with anxiety when entering a gas station.
Two months after Justin Peoples died, his girlfriend said she found out she was pregnant with his son. She said nothing felt right, from the baby shower to her son’s birth. All she wanted was for Justin Peoples to be there, she said.
While she spoke, Maurice Peoples stood behind her, comforting her.
Several other people, from family members to preachers who knew Justin Peoples, gave impact statements.
Everyone who spoke asked the judge to give the maximum sentence. Some speakers said Justin Peoples was not killed because of who he was, but because of the color of his skin.
When charges were first pressed against Garner and Jones, prosecutors charged the couple with a special-circumstance hate crime, but dropped that allegation.
Before the sentences were delivered to Garner, who received 50 years to life in state prison, and Jones, who was given 27 years to life, the courtroom watched a video of Justin Peoples’ celebration of life.
As photos and memories of the man were shown, an instrumental of the song “Die For You” by The Weeknd played.
Record reporter Victoria Franco covers public safety in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at vfranco@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: ‘That night was the worst night of my life.’ Family of Justin Peoples share grief, loss
Reporting by Victoria Franco, The Stockton Record / The Record
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