Families' Long, Bloody Feud Touches Yakima Valley

YAKIMA - A bloody, decade-long feud between two families has extended to the Yakima Valley, but the area is unlikely to become a regular battleground in the quarrel, Yakima County authorities say.

The vendetta between rival factions of the Mendoza and Ramos clans has primarily been waged in rural villages in the Mexican state of Michoacan and in cities across Northern California. Law-enforcement authorities say the feud is rooted in family honor and, to a lesser degree, the international drug underworld.

Ed Erdelatz, a San Francisco homicide detective who has investigated Mendoza and Ramos slayings, said no one may know the number of people who have been killed.

"I don't want to give you a number out of thin air, but it's way up there," he said. "I've heard 50 or more, most of them in Mexico."

Yakima County authorities learned of the families' dispute after a shootout Oct. 20.

Authorities said Jesus Pulido Oseguera, 42, was ambushed outside his Sunnyside-area home by gunmen who leapt from a pickup truck and opened fire. Bullets tore into his leg, stomach and face, and one of the assailants then bashed him over the head with a rifle. A son who had been inside Oseguera's house grabbed a gun and returned fire, forcing the assailants to retreat.

Oseguera, reportedly a high-ranking associate with the Ramos family, died Jan. 28 of wounds suffered in the attack. Yakima County prosecutors said Missouri authorities had been waiting for him to recover so he could stand trial on federal drug-trafficking charges.

Francisco Sanchez, 37, and his 17-year-old nephew were arrested in the Sunnyside-area attack. Both are extended members of the Mendoza family.

Prosecutors last week added first-degree murder to the charges against Sanchez and his nephew. Sanchez is scheduled to stand trial March 14 in Yakima County Superior Court, and the nephew faces an unscheduled Juvenile Court trial.