Ray Joseph, 20, of Sacramento, has been sentenced to 27 years in state prison for the attempted murder of a Manteca couple as they slept in their bed at their home on Victory Avenue in September of 2013.

Joseph was sentenced this week by a San Joaquin County Superior Court judge in Stockton to serve 85 percent of his prison mandated time – rather than the normal 50 percent – because of the horrendous nature of his crime. 

Joseph pled guilty to the attempted murder charge and the use of a firearm in the commission of the crime. It included him kicking in the front door of the home located between Walnut Avenue and Union Road just south of Alameda Street – a few blocks north of the Manteca Police Department.

The suspect had allegedly kicked in the front door at the home at about 3:40 a.m., going into a bedroom and firing at a man and woman occupant in their bed. Detectives contend that it was more than just a random act of violence. The victims reportedly sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries. The man’s eyesight was expected to be compromised due to his head injury.

A neighbor reported to having seen the gunman kicking in the door before entering the home in the predawn hours. The couple had been transported to a local hospital where the woman was released two days later and the man was kept for a longer stay because of his head injury.

A U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Apprehension Team located Joseph in early October of 2013 on a felony search warrant on a total of eight felony charges.

Joseph’s original charges still evident on the Sheriff’s custody website include two counts of attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a firearm on a person – two counts – mayhem, intentional and personal discharge of a firearm.