Attorneys for two men accused of killing a Point Loma man after using a Snapchat app to sell a ghost gun have told jurors a friend of the man displayed a BB gun first, causing one of them to fire first.

The murder trial opened on Feb. 6 concerning the 2020 death of Eduardo Salguero, 18, who was shot to death in his car at 6 p.m. behind the Vons supermarket at 3645 Midway Drive.

Salguero answered an advertisement on Snapchat on Nov. 25, 2020, that was placed by Angel Garcia, 20, and Armando Silvestre Alvarado, 21, both of San Diego.

“Angel Garcia and Armando Alvarado chose greed and violence over human life,” said Deputy District Attorney Miriam Hemming in her opening statement.

Hemming said the firearm was “a bait gun which (Angel) was never going to sell” as it was “a planned robbery” to steal the money for it. The agreed-upon price was $750, she said.

Parts for the firearm were apparently ordered through the mail without serial numbers, but the jury was not told it was considered a ghost gun. Ironically, the firearm turned out to be the murder weapon.

A 17-year-old friend named Ruben T. came along with Salguero, and met with Alvarado and Garcia in the back of the supermarket’s parking lot. At one point, Ruben thought they were being robbed, and he jumped out of the car.

Garcia shot Salguero in the back and another shot hit the Vons store, said Hemming. This caused Salguero to slump over the driver’s seat and the car propelled forward into a wall. Garcia smashed his head into the windshield, leaving his DNA, blood, and hair behind, said Hemming.

Alvarado and Garcia fled, but Alvarado left his cell phone behind which contained a message from Garcia on it, said the prosecutor.

Hemming told the jury she would ask them to convict both men of murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, shooting at an inhabited building, and two counts of attempted robbery. Garcia is accused of a single hold-up committed at the beach by himself.

Attorney Shervin Samimi, who represents Alvarado, told jurors and San Diego Superior Court Judge Kimberlee Lagotta that Salguero’s friend Ruben pulled a BB gun that looked like a real gun.

Alvarado then pulled a gun, and actually thought that Ruben had fired a shot, said Samimi. Ruben got out of the car and hid in a nearby craft store.

Alvarado will testify in the trial and will say there was no plan to hurt anyone, said Samimi. “They tried to rob us first,” said his lawyer, quoting Alvarado’s words after he was arrested.

Attorney Amy Balfe, who represents Garcia, said there was no robbery attempt on Salguero or his friend because “the robbery never started.”

Balfe told jurors they cannot convict Garcia of murder because there was no underlying felony conduct. She also said the star witness had “a pattern for dishonesty” and she urged a not-guilty verdict.

The first witness was Maria Salguero, the victim’s mother who identified her son’s wallet which was eventually recovered. She said he was still in high school when he died.

Paramedic Albert Aliu testified first responders pulled the victim, who was found slumped over the steering wheel, out of the vehicle. Salguero was taken to a hospital where he died.

The trial is expected to last several weeks. A 12-member jury and three alternates consisting of nine men and six women are hearing the case.

Both Garcia and Alvarado have pleaded not guilty and remain in jail on $3 million and $2 million respectively.