Autopsy: Garner man shot 16 times in home invasion

Jose Samual Flores Mendoza, 34, of 708 Colonial Drive, suffered several gunshot wounds to his head, chest and torso, the report stated.

Mendoza's wife, Maria Saravia Mendoza, 34, was also killed in the Jan. 5 attack, when she was shot seven times.

Investigators have said the couple were unintended victims of a dispute between two rival gangs and that the target had lived in the house in 2011 prior to the Mendozas moving there.

According to search warrants in the case, deputies found Maria Mendoza dead in the kitchen and her husband dead on the couch. The couple's 3-year-old son was also found in the home but was not physically harmed.

An investigative report accompanying the autopsy said Jose Mendoza had just gotten off work at his job at Golden Corral, had undressed and sat down on his couch to eat when someone kicked in the door and began shooting.

Investigators found throughout the home dozens of shell casings from a .45 caliber handgun and a 7.62mm rifle, which helped them link the crime to two teenagers who were arrested in the case, according to search warrants.

Isrrael Vasquez, 16, and Jonathan Santillan, 15, are awaiting trial on multiple charges, including two counts each of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and one count of first-degree burglary.

During a probable cause hearing in May, a witness testified that the teens, wearing hair nets, masks and gloves, kicked in the door of the Mendozas' home and shot them with an AK-47 and a handgun.