Gang members' plea deals in two Seattle slayings avoid trial

Two gang members charged in connection with two back-to-back slayings in Seattle last year will be going to prison after making plea deals with prosecutors.

Emmanuel Grande-Martinez, 22, and Elmer Cisneros-Alvarado, 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Wednesday in King County Superior Court in the slayings of Jorge Temblador-Topete, 22, on Sept. 24, and John Diklich, 18, the day before.

In the plea, Grande-Martinez agreed to testify against Cisneros-Alvarado.

Grande-Martinez described how he and Cisneros-Alvarado were in the International District on Sept. 24, looking for rival gang members to kill in retaliation for the earlier wounding of someone in their own gang.

Court documents say that the pair pulled up behind a car stopped at the light at Airport Way South and Fourth Avenue South, and Grande-Martinez got out and began shooting. Temblador-Topete, who was not a gang member, was killed and four others in the car were wounded.

In the Sept. 23 incident, Cisneros-Alvarado, Grande-Martinez and a friend drove to White Center to "go get some fools," court documents say. When they got to an alley on 16th Avenue Southwest, they saw Diklich and accused him of being a gang member, which he denied. They chased him, opening fire and finally shooting him in the head.

After Grande-Martinez entered his plea, Cisneros-Alvarado entered an Alford plea, which means he doesn't admit guilt but believes he'd be found guilty if the case went to trial.

Grande-Martinez is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has been deported four times. Cisneros-Alvarado had been living in Renton.

Prosecutors, who say the two belong to a dangerous Salvadoran gang, have recommended 42 years for Grande-Martinez and 30 for Cisneros-Alvarado when they are sentenced next month.

Nancy Bartley can be reached at nbartley@seattletimes.com