Example of graffiti, but not graffiti in neighbor’s murder. Photo via Pixabay

Three gang members were convicted Wednesday of murdering a neighbor of one of the defendants for complaining days earlier about graffiti in front of his Arleta home.

Christopher “Piso” Adauta, 21, was found guilty of first-degree murder for the early morning attack on Edgar Barrientos, 37, in the 8800 block of Beachy Avenue on Dec. 21, 2014.

The victim’s neighbor, Javier “Fects” Garcia, 23, and co-defendant Oscar “Crudo” Sanchez, 30, were each found guilty of second-degree murder.

The three were also convicted of attempted murder and assault with a knife involving two neighbors who came to Barrientos’ aid, and jurors found that the crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

The three did “donuts” in a car in front of Barrientos’ house in an effort to lure him outside about 4 a.m. the day of the killing, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Rabbani.

Barrientos had complained days before about graffiti left in front of his house by one of Garcia’s fellow gang members, which was the motivation for the murder, the prosecutor said.

The defendants beat the victim to the ground twice after he came outside, then turned their attention on two neighbors who came to his aid. Barrientos was then fatally stabbed by Adauta, Rabbani said.

Garcia was taken into custody later that day, and Adauta and Garcia were arrested the next month.

They are each facing potential life prison terms, with sentencing set for Nov. 15 at the San Fernando courthouse.

–City News Service

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Sgt. Steve Owen. Photo courtesy LASD

The parolee accused of killing a sheriff’s sergeant in Lancaster first wounded the lawman and then executed him with four additional shots once he was down, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell has revealed.

The suspect then allegedly search the dead lawman’s body for a weapon that could be used against the first responding deputy, according to the sheriff.

Sgt. Steve Owen., 53, was gunned down around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday as he and a deputy responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting a burglary at an apartment building in the 3200 block of West Avenue J-7.

The man suspected of killing Owen — Trenton Trevon Lovell, 27, of Lancaster — was wounded in a shoulder by a deputy but ultimately arrested and booked on suspicion of murder. He was being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correction Facility.

McDonnell said at a news conference at the Lancaster Station that Lovell — whose name the sheriff refused to utter — has been arrested 11 times, first as a juvenile on suspicion of selling marijuana, and was jailed or imprisoned twice.

He shot Owen behind a residence after being confronted by the sergeant, who radioed that he had the suspect at gunpoint before he was shot, McDonnell said.

“Sgt. Owen approached the suspect in response to a burglary call,” McDonnell said. “The suspect immediately shot Sgt. Owen. He then stood over and executed Sgt. Owen by firing four additional rounds into his body. He then unsuccessfully searched the body for the sergeant’s weapon with the intent to use it to murder the first responding deputy.”

That deputy fired numerous times at Lovell, who had pointed his weapon at him, striking the suspect once in the shoulder, the sheriff said.

“Not only did the suspect want to kill our deputies, he held two teenagers hostage in a neighboring house until they were rescued by the heroic efforts of our Special Enforcement Bureau and our Lancaster Station personnel. He was subsequently arrested in the surrounding neighborhood without further incident.”

While answering a reporter’s question, McDonnell took issue with legislation allowing some criminals to cycle through the justice system, repeatedly ending up back in communities to offend once again.

“I think it’s time that we had a serious conversation,” he said. “We all believe in second chances and a chance for redemption and that’s what America is all about, but there are a limited number of chances where somebody doesn’t get a free pass to continue to do this type of … violence that we see over and over again in so many different cases.”

McDonnell called on the public to carefully consider any proposed legislation regarding the incarceration of convicted criminals.

He also said if Lovell is found guilty of murdering Owen, the death penalty would be appropriate.

That was the sentence given to then-27-year-old gang member Jose Luis Orozco, the last man who killed a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. He was found guilty of first-degree murder with the special circumstances of murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon for fatally shooting Deputy Jerry Ortiz, 35, on June 24, 2005, as Ortiz conducted a shooting investigation in Hawaiian Gardens.

After Owen was shot, the first responding deputy, who was at the front of the apartment complex, ran toward the gunfire and found the wounded sergeant, Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Katz said on Wednesday.

“The suspect fled from that area and the deputy gave chase on foot,” Katz said.

The gunman then ran to the front of the location and attempted to commandeer the sergeant’s patrol car, ramming a deputy’s cruiser in the process.

The deputy opened fire and Lovell fled on foot.

A large cordon was established to contain the suspect, who entered another home, where there were two teenagers, Katz said.

The teens “were ultimately able to inform law enforcement of the presence of the suspect at that location,” Katz said, and an immediate rescue plan was put into effect.

A sheriff’s SWAT team entered the home to save the teens while the suspect left through a rear door. “Less than lethal” devices were deployed to prevent the suspect from re-entering the home, said Deputy Juanita Navarro- Suarez.

The gunman continued to try to escape and attempted to climb over a wall, but he was confronted by deputies and taken into custody, Navarro-Suarez said, adding that a firearm was recovered at the scene.

Owen was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

“We were fortunate in being able to find his wife, who is an Arson- Explosives detective in our department, and get her to the hospital … before Steve succumbed,” sheriff’s Executive Officer Neal Tyler told reporters.

One of Owen’s adult sons and his stepdaughter, as well his mother, also were at his bedside, Tyler said.

McDonnell, who cut short a trip to a conference in Hawaii to return to the Southland following Owen’s death, met earlier with Owen’s family and began today’s news conference by paying tribute to the sergeant.

“Today we mourn the loss of a man who made a difference — to his family, to his fellow deputies and his community,” he said.

Owen received a Meritorious Conduct Medal in 2014, along with five of his Lancaster Station colleagues, for their roles in a pursuit and carjacking situation that ended with deputies using Tasers to capture an armed suspect and rescue the carjacked motorist.

According to court records cited by the Los Angeles Times, Lovell’s criminal past includes a 2009 conviction for robbing a USC community safety officer at gunpoint. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was on parole for that offense at the time of Wednesday’s shooting.

Lovell pleaded no contest in 2008 to resisting arrest and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, The Times reported. He pleaded no contest in September 2015 to DUI causing injury, and was ordered to enroll in a drug and alcohol counseling program and complete a first-offender program.

A memorial of candles, flowers, balloons, and condolence cards continued to grow outside the Lancaster Station, where deputies were back at work while coping with the death of their long-time colleague, a 29-year department veteran who had been promoted to sergeant five years ago.

One man told the Los Angeles Times he was there to offer prayers for Owen, who had arrested him several years ago, but who had since counseled him and was a father figure to him.

“This guy, when I was in trouble, kept me straight,” Bishop Vaughn said.

The county Board of Supervisors requested flags at all county buildings to remain lowered at half-staff in memory of Owen, whose body was taken today from the county coroner’s facility in Boyle Heights to a mortuary in Lancaster.

A procession of dozens of law enforcement vehicles accompanied the hearse along the route.

On Wednesday, McDonnell offered a statement of condolence to Owen’s family.

“We all mourn together and our hearts go out especially to Steve’s immediate family Tania (his wife), his two adult sons Brandon and Chad, a stepdaughter Shannon and his mother Millie,” McDonnell said.

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A man with two prior convictions for manslaughter pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and other counts for allegedly killing one neighbor and wounding another neighbor in Long Beach last month.

Sotero Monteon, 61, was charged Sept. 16 with one felony count each of murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition.

The criminal complaint includes allegations that Monteon personally and intentionally discharged a firearm and that he has prior convictions for a string of offenses including manslaughter in 1975 and 1982, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Monteon allegedly shot at his two neighbors Sept. 14 outside their Long Beach apartment.

Benny Ceasar, 49, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The mother of the victim’s child was shot and wounded.

Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting, which occurred in the 5400 block of Atlantic Avenue.

Monteon was taken into custody without incident in the area of Lime Avenue and South Street, about three hours after the shooting. He has remained behind bars since then.

If convicted as charged, Monteon could face at least 140 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service

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Officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny. Courtesy Palm Springs Police Department

Palm Springs was in mourning Monday following the weekend slaying of two police officers — a 63-year-old veteran planning to finally retire in December after more than three decades of service and a 27- year-old rookie who had recently returned from maternity leave and who leaves a 4-month baby.

It was the first time a police officer was killed since 1962 in the desert resort that is a major vacation destination for residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The Palm Springs police chief called the two officers heroes, and said they are now “looking down” on the people of the desert city. An ex-con suspect was captured and, according to the Riverside County district attorney, may face the death penalty.

A third officer was wounded in Saturday’s shooting but released from the hospital Sunday and reported to be doing well.

The ex-con suspect was arrested Sunday and is scheduled for a court hearing later this week in Riverside. Manwhile, a large gathering turned out Sunday night at police headquarters for a vigil for the fallen officers.

The alleged shooter, suspected gang member John Hernandez Felix, 26, was flushed out of his house in the 2700 block of Cypress Avenue at 1 a.m. Sunday by a Riverside County sheriff’s SWAT team after a 12-hour standoff. He was wearing soft body armor and carrying multiple magazines of bullets, but police did not immediately report what type of weapons he had.

Felix was scheduled to appear in court this coming Thursday in Riverside, where he’s in custody without bail.

The drama began around 1 p.m. Saturday as Palm Springs police responded to a call from a woman reporting that her adult son was causing a disturbance, according to police. Three officers were shot through a closed front door as they tried to get Felix to come outside, the sheriff’s department reported.

Veteran training Sgt. Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, had been with the department for 35 years — five years past his retirement eligibility — and had planned to finish his career in December. Also killed was a rookie officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, who had been with the department for a year-and-a-half. She had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter four months ago. Her husband was a member of the sheriff’s department.

“I have two officers that are now looking down at us from above, and our police department today is walking in the footsteps of two additional heroes,”  Police Chief Bryan Reyes, speaking through tears, said Sunday.

“She was a very excited officer, to learn her new profession, just gave birth to her baby daughter four months ago,” he said of Zerebny. “She elected to come back to the department early to help out.

“To see her laying down, with her eyes open, and to witness her husband in full Riverside County sheriff’s office uniform, kiss her on the forehead for the last time …

“It’s tough. We are going to rely on all of you to help us through this,” the police chief said, echoing the tenor of a statement Mayor Rob Moon tweeted on Saturday: “It’s probably the worst day of my life.”

Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil at the Palm Springs Police Department Sunday night to mourn the deaths of the officers.

“We are grateful to have so much support from so many people in our community and beyond,” the department wrote on Facebook after the vigil. “Words cannot describe our pain at this time.”

Felix, the accused shooter, was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to two years in prison for a 2009 incident that originally drew an attempted murder charge. Prosecutors also charged him with being a member of a criminal gang.

After being released from that sentence, he was later accused of resisting arrest by Palm Springs police on the same street where he allegedly shot three officers Saturday.

The suspect was arrested at 1 a.m. Sunday and treated at a hospital for incidental injuries before being booked into the county jail at Riverside.

The chief investigator for the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said there was sufficient evidence for a death penalty-eligible charge to be filed. But he said no decision on the death penalty would be possible until the investigation was further along.

Adding to the stress experienced by Riverside County’s law enforcement community, an Indio police sergeant was critically injured about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The accident occurred as the sergeant was driving a 2007 Honda motorcycle on southbound Jackson Street approaching Odlum Drive when a 2013 Nissan SUV turned directly into his path, said Stephanie Hamilton of the California Highway Patrol.

The sergeant was thrown off his motorcycle and landed in the intersection, she said. He was taken by ambulance to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs with major injuries and listed in critical condition, the CHP reported.

The SUV driver, 53-year-old Margaret Kendric of Orange, was not injured, Hamilton said. Kendric was arrested on  suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and booked into the Riverside County jail in Indio. She was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and due to appear in court Thursday.

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File photo.

Riverside County lawmakers Monday were outraged and anguished over the deaths of two Palm Springs police officers gunned down responding to a family disturbance call, speculating as to the reasons behind the deadly encounter.

“When I’d heard that the officers had been shot, I was sick to my stomach,” Riverside County Board of Supervisors Chairman John Benoit told City News Service. “Having gone through the process of holding the hands of widows who lost their husbands in the line of duty, it made me physically ill to hear about this.”

Benoit, who spent more than 30 years with the California Highway Patrol, said he could well understand “how devastating these losses are to the morale” of the Palm Springs Police Department, where Sgt. Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, was less than three months from retirement and Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, was 18 months into her career and a new mother.

Their alleged killer, 26-year-old John Hernandez Felix, is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

“It’s horrific acts like the deaths of two police officers that make you wonder how the state of California could have Proposition 62 on the ballot, trying to repeal the death penalty,” Sen. Jeff Stone, R-La Quinta, told CNS. “Then we have Proposition 57, which would give parole boards more power to reduce sentences and let dangerous criminals onto our streets.”

“We’re in a crime epidemic,” the senator said. “Heinous criminals are not being held accountable because of the laws that have been passed.”

Benoit said he was “not surprised” at reports that Felix was illegally armed with a rifle and in possession of a large cache of ammunition, wearing protective gear — possibly laying for Vega, Zerebny and a third officer who came to his residence to investigate a domestic disturbance Saturday.

“We’ve seen this in so many instances across the country,” the supervisor said. “We try to learn from them. Was there anything that could’ve been done better? Was there something missed from a mental health perspective? Was this one of those cases where reducing time served in our criminal justice system precipitated a tragedy? Who knows.”

Stone said he felt that “media inflation” of officer-involved shootings was inflaming passions and “enraging people.”

“Hundreds of thousands of officers put their lives on the line for us every day,” he said. “We cannot tarnish their good work based on sporadic incidents. Some media seem to want to feed the hysteria. And it brings out the crazies who kill our law enforcement people. I stand tall with the men and women in blue. My office is ready to help the police department by any and all means possible.”

Since Saturday’s killings, other area lawmakers have expressed similar feelings. Assemblyman Chad Mayes, R-Palm Springs, said Sunday he was “saddened beyond belief” over the deaths of Vega and Zerebny.

“We are with you Palm Springs PD,” Mayes said, offering to “help in any way I can.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, said the fallen officers were “incredible examples of courage and service.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with their family, friends and the entire Palm Springs and law enforcement community,” according to a statement on the congressman’s Facebook page. “Let’s come together to support one another during this difficult time, show our appreciation, pray for those grieving, and do everything we can to recover and rebuild.”

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The San Ysidro border crossing near San Diego, where the accused were apprehended. Photo by Matt Wade via Wikimedia Commons

Arraignment was delayed again Tuesday for a Whittier couple accused of the torture-murder of a 2-year-old girl whose body was found in a duffel bag as they were attempting to cross the border into Mexico.

Mercy Mary Becerra, 43, and Johnny Lewis Hartley, 39, were initially charged in San Diego County, but the case was moved to Los Angeles County. Becerra made her initial appearance Friday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Becerra and Hartley both appeared in court today, but their arraignment was pushed back until Oct. 25. Bail was set at $3.2 million for both defendants.

The duo face one felony count each of murder, torture and assault on a child causing death. The victim is identified in the criminal complaint only as “Angelina W.” The two are also charged with human trafficking to commit pimping or pandering involving the toddler’s mother.

Becerra and Hartley trafficked the woman between November 2012 and August 2016, seized her daughter, severely abused the child and killed the girl on or about Aug. 9, prosecutors allege. Authorities have said they believe the toddler died in Whittier.

Becerra and Lewis entered Tijuana in a pedestrian lane Aug. 9, and Becerra ran off as Mexican customs agents approached the pair, San Diego police said. Authorities chased and caught her and took her companion into custody.

The girl’s body was discovered during an X-ray examination of the bag Hartley had been carrying, authorities said.

San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Kurt Mechals previously said the child died in a residential drowning, with contributing causes of malnutrition and dehydration.

If convicted as charged, the two could each face up to life in state prison.

—City News Service

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Fernando Vargas via Facebook page.

A man who allegedly shoved his 70-year-old mother out of a second-story window during an argument at their Van Nuys apartment, then continued to attack her on the grou70-year-oldnd in front of bystanders, was charged Wednesday with murder.

Fernando Vargas, 40, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in connection with the death of his mother, Carlota.

Vargas was allegedly arguing with his mother when he pushed her out of the window about 3 a.m. Monday. Vargas then allegedly jumped out of the window and attacked his mother on the ground outside the apartment building in the 7400 block of Hazeltine Avenue, where they had lived for about a decade.

She died at a nearby hospital.

Vargas — who was treated for a heel fracture — could face up to 25 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

A neighbor told ABC7 that she saw Vargas stomping the woman and was horrified.

“Somebody yelled out for him to stop and he said that she was going to die anyway so that it didn’t matter no more,” she said.

–City News Service 

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via LA Sheriffs department

A state appeals court panel Wednesday upheld a man’s conviction for murdering his pregnant girlfriend, whose body was discovered buried in his Compton backyard.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Devion Keith Anderson‘s contention that his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to object to testimony about the defendant’s conduct after the December 2013 strangulation of 18-year-old Maria Gonzalez, who was 14 weeks pregnant.

“He was patently not prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to object because the jury found the premeditation and deliberation allegation untrue,” the justices found in a 15-page ruling.

The appellate court panel also turned down Anderson’s claim that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him to two consecutive terms of 15 years to life.

“The facts on which the court relied — appellant drowning Maria in a bucket of water when he believed she was still alive, burying her to conceal the murder, lying to his family, and then fleeing the scene — showed at the very least that the murders involved ‘acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness or callousness,”‘ the justices ruled.

Sheriff’s deputies responded on Dec. 23, 2013, to a 911 call from a family member at Anderson’s home, and deputies discovered a mound of freshly dug dirt in the backyard. The woman’s body was found after the area was excavated.

Anderson went to the Compton sheriff’s station the next day and admitted to the killing and burial of Gonzalez. He was charged with a second count of murder after authorities determined that she was pregnant.

Anderson was convicted in February 2015 of two counts of second-degree murder.

–City News Service 

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Darrell Mark Gurule.

Jurors deadlocked Thursday in the penalty phase of trial of a man who killed a young woman during a rape in Glendale 37 years ago.

The jury that convicted Darrel Mark Gurule of murder was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the penalty phase, with 10 voting in favor of recommending life in prison without parole and two recommending death.

A hearing was set for Dec. 2 to determine the next step in the case.

Gurule was convicted Sept. 28 of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 23-year-old Barbara Ballman. During the penalty phase of trial, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Chung showed the eight-man, four-woman panel a photo of Ballman, whose naked body was found in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, 1979, inside her Volkswagen sedan parked across from Edison Elementary School.

That image was followed quickly by a photograph of a bloodied Roberto Bruno, whom Gurule was previously convicted of murdering. Bruno was shot in the head in 1987.

Chung said witnesses and transcripts show that Gurule, 57, also kidnapped and sexually assaulted another woman in 1977, assaulted two brothers in 1979, robbed a man in 1982 and received stolen goods in 1986.

Defense attorney Philip Peng asked jurors to “choose life.”

“At minimum, Darrel Gurule will die in prison. He’s never going to get out,” Peng said.

During his 10,592 days in custody, Gurule “has never threatened anyone, never harmed anyone,” the defense attorney told jurors.

The question is “does Darrel die on God’s time or is he going to die on man’s time?” he said.

Gurule grew up in Echo Park in the 1960s and ’70s, when the area was controlled by warring gangs, Peng said.

“Darrel’s father was an extremely vicious man with heavy hands,” who regularly beat his wife Lydia and their eight children, the defense attorney said. He pointed to Gurule’s troubled childhood as a mitigating factor weighing favor of a life-without-parole sentence.

On July 4, 1973, Gurule was found with six of his siblings, ages 4-17, in what police had thought was an abandoned house in Glendale, devoid of furniture other than a few mattresses. Officers found “rotting food all over the floor” and a “kitchen floor covered with newspaper and feces,” Peng said.

Gurule’s father was “out of the picture” by then and his mother was out on a date.

Ballman was killed on Sept. 20, 1979, sometime after leaving her older sister’s home at 7:30 p.m.

Linda Benjamin told jurors that her sibling moved to California after she did.

“When she first came out, I felt responsible for her well-being,” Benjamin said.

Ballman took classes at Glendale College and worked at a group home and residential treatment center for young women called Penny Lane.

“I hate that she … was murdered on my watch,” Benjamin said, reading from a journal she kept after her sister was killed.

“If I could have had only five more minutes with you it would have made my life more bearable,” she read. “I would gladly trade places with you to do the hard part. It’s just a thing I will never be able to understand,” she wrote in referencing “the tragedy and horror of your death.”

Benjamin referred more than once to Gurule as a monster and said she was not only sad, but angry “that coward, that monster is still walking around.”

Jurors found true special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a rape and murder with a prior conviction but deadlocked on a third special circumstance allegation — murder during the course of a robbery.

Gurule wasn’t charged with Ballman’s murder until 2010. Glendale police said semen evidence was recovered from the victim, who had been shot in the abdomen, but DNA analysis was not available at the time.

In 2004, Gurule’s DNA was submitted to a law enforcement database. When Glendale police re-opened an investigation into Ballman’s killing and submitted the semen evidence to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s crime lab, a match was made with Gurule’s DNA.

Gurule was 19 at the time of the killing and has been serving a life prison sentence since 1987 for the kidnap-murder of Bruno, which detectives believe was the result of a drug deal gone wrong.

–City News Service 

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An 18-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of shooting dead the longtime owner of a burger restaurant in a Harbor City strip mall during an attack on a customer, who was also killed.

The customer may have been the intended victim while the eatery owner appeared to be hit by stray rounds, according to authorities.

The possible gang-related shooting occurred about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Bob’s Hamburgers  in the 1100 block of West Pacific Coast Highway.

Joey Mendoza allegedly approached the intended victim, who was standing next to the restaurant’s counter, and fired several shots from a handgun.

Louis Garcia, 23, of Wilmington, collapsed and died at the scene.

The eatery’s owner, 61-year-old Charalambos Antonelos of San Pedro, had been working behind the counter and was struck by stray gunfire, police said. He died at a hospital.

Witnesses and police said the gunman’s face was covered during the attack.

“Harbor detectives identified the suspect through surveillance video, witness statements and gang intelligence,” according to a statement released by the Los Angeles Police Department. “Detectives served a search warrant and captured the suspect without incident.”

The handgun used in the shooting has not been recovered, according to police.

Mendoza, who was arrested about 1:45 a.m., was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to sheriff’s inmate records.

An employee said Bob’s Hamburgers had been operating for about 30 years, and distraught customers told reporters that the longtime owner was known for giving out free food to those in need.

Detectives urged anyone who can provide additional information about the shooting to call them at (310) 726-7889 or (310) 726-7887.

After-hours and weekend calls can be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7 and anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or by clicking on “webtips” at lapdonline.org.

—City News Service

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Organization’s name tattooed on member’s abdomen via Wikimedia Commons.

A Mexican Mafia member who also headed a San Gabriel Valley gang that targeted black victims was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison.

James “Chemo” Gutierrez, 53, pleaded guilty in April to three conspiracy counts involving racketeering, narcotics distribution and money laundering.

Gutierrez, leader of the El Monte Flores gang, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt to five years of supervised release after he gets out of prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Gutierrez was the lead defendant in a 41-person federal indictment detailing allegations of murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, robbery, burglary, carjacking, witness intimidation and other offenses.

The street gang — one of the oldest in the county — often committed “hate crimes directed against African-Americans who might reside or be present in the cities of El Monte and South El Monte in an effort to rid these cities of all African-Americans,” according to the 62-count indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Other gang-related crimes outlined in the 2014 document include the execution of a former Mexican Mafia member and the fatal shooting of four others in an El Monte home in 1995.

The indictment also describes an ongoing dispute involving members of the Mexican Mafia who were attempting to exercise control over the gang.

Other Mexican Mafia members serving life prison terms are not charged in the indictment, but they are listed as co-conspirators.

The gang maintained a significant presence at the Boys & Girls Club in San Gabriel, where gang members openly sold drugs, held gang meetings and even held a car wash fundraiser, according to the indictment.

Members of the gang also regularly used and threatened to use violence to extort “taxes” from local drug dealers and fraudulent document vendors, prosecutors said.

Several incidents in the indictment dating back to early 2001 describe black victims in El Monte being attacked, threatened and subjected to racial epithets.

Gutierrez recently served a 20-year sentence in a federal homicide case, prosecutors noted.

–City News Service 

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via LinkedIn

A “savage” teen woman was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in the 2014 robbery killing “for fun, for kicks” of a USC graduate student from China who was attacked near the campus while walking to his apartment after a study session.

The killer and her friends left the bloody, barely alive victim and then headed for a beach near Los Angeles International Airport where they attacked a man and a woman in the pre-dawn darkness.

“This is not your average 16-year-old. Your average 16-year-old does not engage in savage behavior like this for fun, for kicks,” a prosecutor told the court of the defendant who is now 18, but who was 16 at the time of the attacks.

Alejandra Guerrero was the first of four people to be tried for the killing of Xinran Ji, 24. The electrical engineering student was attacked around 12:45 a.m. July 24, 2014, but he managed to return to his fourth-floor apartment after the assault — leaving a trail of blood behind him.

He was found dead in his apartment by his roommates.

Guerrero is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 28, and she faces up to life in prison without parole.

The seven-woman, five-man jury found true the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of an attempted robbery. Guerrero was also convicted of one count each of robbery, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon for an alleged attack on a woman and a man at Dockweiler State Beach less than two hours after the attack on Ji.

Guerrero — who was 16 at the time of the crime — was prosecuted as an adult, but because she was a juvenile at the time of the crime, the judge has the discretion of sentencing her to 25 years to life in prison, despite the special-circumstance allegation.

Jonathan Del Carmen, 21, Andrew Garcia, 20, and Alberto Ochoa, 19, are awaiting trial separately in connection with Ji’s killing. Garcia and Ochoa are also charged with robbery, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon involving the alleged attack at the beach.

Prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty against Del Carmen and Garcia. Guerrero and Ochoa could not face the death penalty because they were both under 18 at the time of the crime.

In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told jurors that Guerrero “minimizes her own involvement” by claiming she hit Ji on the hand with a wrench and was “lying about the victim fighting back” when she was interviewed by Los Angeles police detectives.

The prosecutor told the jury that Guerrero’s Facebook posts before the deadly attack on Ji show that she is a “leader” who refers to “flocking” or robbing people.

The deputy district attorney said Guerrero had “plenty of opportunities to not directly participate” in the attack on Ji, telling jurors that there was no evidence that Guerrero had been coerced to get out of the car with Garcia and Ochoa to confront the victim.

“You have plenty of evidence that they were out there to commit robbery,” McKinney said. “They didn’t actually get property. They attempted to rob him … They’re responsible for the consequences of their act.”

Guerrero’s attorney, Errol Cook, countered that it would be up to jurors to determine “what level of culpability” his client should face for her actions. He repeatedly referred to her age at the time, told jurors that the others with her were older, and disputed whether she would have been a leader in the group.

Guerrero had no intent to kill Ji and had no idea that a baseball bat would be used as a weapon during the attempted robbery, nor did she deal any of the “death blows” to the victim, Cook said, telling jurors that a baseball bat recovered near Dockweiler Beach did not contain any of his client’s DNA.

“You will see that the charge of first-degree murder is not supported by the evidence,” Cook said. “It is not provable beyond a reasonable doubt … I’m not saying that she is a good girl.”

Guerrero’s attorney told jurors that he was “focusing on the murder charge” and was “not worried” about the charges involving the alleged attack at Dockweiler.

Ochoa and Garcia were taken into custody while walking by the Hyperion Treatment Plant after the man they allegedly attempted to rob summoned a patrol car at nearby Dockweiler State Beach. Del Carmen and Guerrero were arrested later that day.

Ji’s killing occurred two years after two other USC graduate students from China were shot to death during an April 2012 robbery as they sat in a car that was double-parked on a street near the USC campus.

Two men — Javier Bolden and Bryan Barnes — were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killings of Ying Wu and Ming Qu, who were both 23.

–City News Service 

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Officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny. Courtesy Palm Springs Police Department

The city of Palm Springs will honor slain police officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny Tuesday at a public memorial service to be attended by Gov. Jerry Brown, state Attorney General Kamala Harris and law enforcement officials from across the country.

The service for Vega and Zerebny, who were gunned down after responding to a family disturbance call at a Palm Springs home, will begin at 11 a.m. at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The officers will be transported to the convention center via separate procession routes, Vega from the Forest Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City and Zerebny from the Ramona Bowl Amphitheater located in her hometown of Hemet.

The Palm Springs Police Department will be accepting memorial service flower donations until 6 tonight at the convention center.

Members of the public planning on attending the ceremony can park at the Palm Springs Mall, at 2365 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way. Shuttles will be available starting at 9 a.m. to take people to and from the Palm Springs Mall and the convention center.

Roads will be shut down in the surrounding area from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The closures include:

— Alejo Road from Calle El Segundo to Avenida Caballeros;

— Hermosa Drive from Amado Road to Tahquitz Canyon Way;

— Tahquitz Canyon Way between Calle Encilia and Hermosa Drive; and

— Calle Encilia between Amado Road and Tahquitz Canyon Way.

A graveside service for Vega will follow at the Coachella Valley Public Cemetery. Roads will closed near the Coachella cemetery from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or when the service concludes.

The closures include:

— Jackson Street between Celebration Drive and Avenue 53; and

— Avenue 52 between Cahuilla Desert Academy and Calhoun Street.

Vega, 63, was with the department for 35 years — five years past his retirement eligibility — and had planned to finish his career in December.

Zerebny, 27, was with the department for a year and a half and was married to a sheriff’s deputy. She gave birth to a daughter four months ago and had just returned to duty from maternity leave.

Zerebny’s graveside service will be held at a private location and will only be open to family members.

The alleged shooter, John Hernandez Felix, 26, was arrested by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies following a 12-hour standoff at his home. He faces murder, attempted murder and numerous other felony charges, including allegations that could have him facing the death penalty.

–City News Service 

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Courtesy of LAPD

A Bellflower man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and four months in state prison for a hit-and-run crash that killed a woman near Long Beach City College.

Mario Ivan Palafox, 24, was initially expected to be sentenced to eight years and four months behind bars. But Superior Court Judge Mark Kim tacked on an additional two years because the defendant had showed up in court more than two hours late for his planned sentencing Sept. 27, according to Deputy District Attorney Karen Brako.

Palafox — who had also shown up late to other hearings in the case — had been advised that he had to show up on time for his sentencing last month or face the maximum term, the prosecutor said.

Palafox pleaded no contest Aug. 30 to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter and three felony counts of hit-and-run. He changed his plea to guilty after hearing statements from relatives of the victim, Elane Logay, just before he was sentenced.

Palafox was driving a 1992 Lexus at a “high rate of speed” westbound on Carson Street about 11:15 a.m. on May 15, 2013, when it smashed into a 1985 Toyota Supra that was stopped in the left turn lane on Carson Street.

The Toyota Supra then hit a 2005 Scion TC that struck a 2007 Ford Mustang, police said.

Logay, a 47-year-old Long Beach resident who was in the Supra, died at the scene.

Palafox fled the crash scene and was arrested near the Long Beach City College campus. He was released nine days later on bond.

The judge ordered Palafox to be taken into custody last month after he showed up late to court for sentencing, which was postponed because the victim’s family members had already left court after waiting about two hours.

–City News Service 

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An example of a homeless man, not the man from the story. via Wikimedia Commons 

A homeless man was convicted Wednesday of a fellow transient’s beating and stomping death outside a fast-food restaurant in downtown Los Angeles.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Charles Allender, 42, guilty of second-degree murder in the Feb. 7, 2015, attack on Derrick Hamilton in the parking lot of an eatery in the 700 block of Cesar Chavez Avenue.

Allender — who is set to be sentenced Dec. 7 — is facing 37 years to life in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Co-defendant Derek Miller, 31, pleaded no contest Sept. 29 to voluntary manslaughter for his involvement in the killing. He is facing 11 years in state prison, with sentencing set for Oct. 31.

Allender and Miller beat and stomped the 45-year-old victim, who died at a hospital.

–City News Service 

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This man is wanted for questioning in the fatal stabbing.

Police Wednesday released surveillance video of a man wanted for questioning in a deadly stabbing near downtown Los Angeles.

The crime occurred about 8:20 p.m. July 23 in the 2000 block of West Pico Boulevard. Robert Delgado, 25, died at the scene.

“We are releasing a portion of video surveillance of a male (who) detectives are attempting to identify because we believe he was a witness or possibly involved,” according to a Los Angeles police statement that did not speculate about a possible motive.

The person of interest was described as Hispanic, 20-25 years old and about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a thin build, police said.

Anyone with information about the case was urged to call detectives at (213) 484-3642 or (213) 484-3643; or (877) LAPD-247.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the case against a former Los Angeles Unified School District elementary school teacher convicted of the slashing murder of his estranged wife who had taken refuge at a friend’s home in West Hills.

Michael Rodney Kane was found guilty in March 2015 of first-degree murder for the June 15, 2013, stabbing death of his estranged wife, Michelle, 43.

Kane — who is serving a life prison term without the possibility of parole — was also convicted of making criminal threats and disobeying a protective order.

In July, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that insufficient evidence was presented to support the special circumstance of lying in wait.

In its 17-page ruling, the appellate court justices found that “substantial evidence supports a finding that defendant watched and waited for a substantial period of time before seizing the opportunity” to get past the husband of his wife’s friend and enter the home for the purpose of killing the victim. She had filed for divorce and obtained a temporary restraining order against him about two months earlier.

The appeals court panel noted that Kane’s estranged wife went to police after she tape-recorded her husband threatening her by saying, “The beast is hungry. He’s ready to feed. You’re not going to make it a week. Forget it, we’re not making it a week … I could snap any second. You ain’t got three days … Watch out for me … I’ll beat you up right here, I’m ready to feed.”

She returned to the police station a second time the day before she was killed to report that he had stopped by her work and violated a restraining order, according to the appellate court panel’s ruling.

Kane initially attacked his estranged wife after getting inside the friend’s house, then stabbed her repeatedly after she fled from the house, the justices noted.

He was arrested two days after the killing, shortly after his abandoned vehicle was spotted by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies in the Joshua Tree area. He was found during a search of area motels.

Kane started as a substitute teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1997, followed by three permanent teaching assignments, the last of which was at Nestle Avenue Charter Elementary in Tarzana.

–City News Service 

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Photo by John Schreiber.

A toddler was pronounced dead Friday after being stabbed, allegedly by her drug-crazed father suspected of also setting their North Hollywood apartment on fire, jumping from a window and stabbing himself before being arrested.

The 13-month-old victim’s mother took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section.

An officer answering an assault with a deadly weapon/man with a knife call about 2:05 p.m. in the 13200 block of Vanowen Street encountered a “somewhat combative” man — who was on fire with a steak knife protruding from his chest — and used less-than-lethal force to take him into custody, LAPD Capt. Steve Carmona said.

About the same time, firefighters were dispatched to the apartment blaze in the 13100 block of Vanowen, according to Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The suspect, who is 25 to 30 years old but was not immediately identified, was taken to a hospital. He is expected to survive and to be booked once medically cleared, police said.

Carmona said investigators found evidence that the suspect had used drugs — possibly methamphetamine.

The man, who had locked himself in the apartment and set it on fire, jumped from the second-floor unit and was on fire, with the knife sticking out of his chest, when officers confronted him in an alley, police said.

Initial reports indicated the girl had been thrown from a second-story window, but that turned out not to be the case.

— City News Service

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via Wikimedia Commons

Two gang members were convicted of first-degree murder Monday for the killing of a 19-year-old mentally disabled man who prosecutors said was gunned down near a South Los Angeles car wash because he was wearing red shoes.

The eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated less than three hours before reaching guilty verdicts for Kanasho Johns, 29, and Kevin Deon Johnson, 26, in the May 29, 2015, killing of Tavin Price.

Johns, the gunman, was additionally convicted of felony possession of a firearm, and jurors also found true gang and gun allegations.

Both men are expected to be sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison on Nov. 30. A third man, Dwight Kevin Smith, 31, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Price’s death and is set to be sentenced after Johns and Johnson.

Deputy District Attorney Bobby Zoumberakis told jurors that Price “was not allowed to wear red shoes in that gang neighborhood.”

“Tavin Price was murdered because of gang pride, because the gang pride was more important than Tavin Price’s life,” the prosecutor said in his opening statement.

Outside the courtroom following the verdict, Zoumberakis said, “It happened because young minority men are targets of gang members in these types of neighborhoods.”

The prosecutor said the case was solved because “the community stood together,” but cautioned that “until there are more community and policing efforts to stop them,” gangs will continue to commit similar crimes.

Price’s mother, Jennifer Rivers, tearfully embraced and thanked police officers involved in the case as they stood outside the courtroom. Rivers said “77th (Street station detectives) worked hard” to solve the crime.

Other family members and friends dressed in red shoes and jackets and donned red T-shirts with the word “justice” on the front and a large photo of Rivers planting a kiss on her son’s forehead as he lay in his coffin on the back.

Rivers told reporters that she felt “some kind of justice … I really wanted the death penalty for them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t apply.”

Asked what she thought of Johns leaving the courtroom with a smile on his face, Price’s mother said, “To me, he has no remorse. He just took my son’s life for nothing. He feels like he got brownie points.”

But one of Price’s sisters said she’s confident that the killers will die before their sentence runs out, while suffering over the memory of what they had done.

“I know you reap what you sow,” Nisha Canson said, recalling Smith saying that he is haunted by the killing day and night.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed Smith confronted Price in a smoke shop near the car wash in the 3300 block of West Florence Avenue, while Johnson stood nearby. The conversation and the shooting itself were caught on surveillance video, though there was no audio recording.

Smith identified himself as a gang member and said to Price, “Why are you wearing all that red? Where are you from?” according to Johnson’s attorney, Curt Leftwich.

“I don’t bang,” Price replied, to which Smith retorted, “Come out of those shoes,” according to Leftwich.

Both sides also told jurors that Hilary Wade, who is the mother of Price’s nephew and was in the store with him, told Smith that the young man wasn’t a “gangbanger” and explained that he was “slow.”

A short while later, Price was standing by his mother’s car when a gunman fired four rounds at “this 19-year-old boy who did nothing wrong and ended him” with “no hesitation,” Zoumberakis told the jury.

He said an eyewitness who knew Johns identified him as the shooter, and Johns fled to Texas in an effort to avoid prosecution.

For his part, Johnson left the car wash, picked up Johns and drove him to the scene of the shooting, according to Zoumberakis.

Following the verdict, both defense attorneys said they would file motions for a new trial and Leftwich said Johnson “would maintain his innocence.”

John’s attorney, Bill Jacobson, declined to comment further.

Rivers said she would attend the sentencing hearing to tell Johns and Johnson how she suffers from the loss of her son. But for now, she has a measure of peace.

“I’m sure (Tavin’s) smiling up there with God, saying `justice is done.”‘

–City News Service 

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A man accused in the stabbing death of a co-worker at the Wilshire Country Club was charged Tuesday with murder.

Erick Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles, is accused of stabbing Emmanuel Bravo about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at the country club in the 300 block of North Rossmore Avenue. The 28-year-old North Hollywood man died at a hospital.

Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles was arrested Friday morning and booked on suspicion of murder. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the murder charge and a knife-use allegation.

The men, who both worked in the restaurant, got into a dispute and Hernandez stabbed the victim with a kitchen knife, Los Angeles police alleged.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia II ordered Hernandez to remain jailed on $2 million bail.

Hernandez is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Nov. 9, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.

–City News Service 

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