Nearly two years after the fatal shooting, a sense of unease – a memory of murder – lingers behind the peaceful facade of a middle-class neighborhood in Elk Grove called The Villas.

Kids played basketball in the street on a sunny afternoon last week and neighbors kept their grass green and trim. Missing was a beloved neighbor killed by a gangster's bullet, a violent urban death stamped into the history of one of Sacramento's staunchest suburban enclaves.

It happened in Elk Grove, but could have occurred in Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom or South Lake Tahoe. Those are among the cities where homies from one of Sacramento's oldest and largest street gangs, the Franklin Boys, have relocated with their families in recent years.

"It's terrible," said Tyler Maack, 21, who lived down the street from where his buddy Marc Grimes was shot and killed by a carload of gang members. "Before, I could hang out in front of my house, in the middle of the street, in the driveway, smoke a cigarette, and not have to worry about a car going by and just thinking, 'Better not look at that car.' "

Their families might have moved to the suburbs, but the gangsters' hearts are still full of "The Boulevard" – the Franklin Boulevard commercial strip that cuts through south Sacramento and gives the gang its name. "Franklon," as the gang also is called, is a subset of the larger, prison-based Nortenos, the overlords of most Latino street gang activity in Northern California.

Theirs is a mentality that does not suffer disrespect, and theirs is a lifestyle that comes armed. It's a combination that turned an unscripted, late-night traffic encounter on a quiet Elk Grove street into a show of deadly gangster force.

"You cannot confront people anymore because these kinds of things happen," said Sacramento sheriff's Detective Ron Aurich, a court-certified gang expert who has worked his beat more than 25 years with both the city police and the sheriff. "These people are a little more serious than you are. You get confrontational, it causes a reaction – verbal, physical, shooting."

One suspect was caught and convicted for the Dec. 22, 2006, shooting death of Grimes, 21, a young man growing into manhood and just days away from shipping off to Navy boot camp.

Manuel Jose "Madman" Cervin, 25, wore his gang affiliation on his neck. The tattoo script read "Sickness," and it featured an accompanying likeness of the state Capitol dome – common stuff, police say, for a gangster from Sacramento. Their area code is 916, or "Nine-One-Sickness."

A product of the tough neighborhoods of Oak Park and the Franklin-Fruitridge area of south Sacramento, Cervin had since moved to Elk Grove with his mother. The night of the killing, he was driving a car filled with his fellow Franklin gangsters to visit a girl who was staying with friends in The Villas.

According to police reports and trial testimony, Grimes and his girlfriend were just pulling up to his house at 11:45 p.m. when their car and Cervin's Toyota Solara got in each other's way. Grimes and the gangsters woofed curses at each other, and Grimes flipped off the gangsters.

It was a sign of disrespect that prosecutors said Cervin could not let pass. He circled back to confront Grimes. He stepped out of the car to fight. It was then that somebody in the Solara pointed a gun out of the car, fired once and shot Grimes through the heart.

On July 31, a Sacramento Superior Court jury, after a 15-day trial, convicted Cervin of second-degree murder. With gang and gun sentencing enhancements, Cervin faces the upper end of a 25-to-life prison term. Sentencing is scheduled for Friday before Judge Michael W. Sweet.

"The conviction of Cervin has significance in a couple of ways," said Deputy District Attorney Scott Triplett. "It brings some closure to Marc Grimes' family for their senseless loss, and it sends a message to gangsters that if you're going to hold yourself out as a gangster, and if you're going to assist gangsters in the commission of their crimes, you will go down for their criminal acts, even if you didn't pull the trigger.

Call Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.