A boy accused of shooting and killing another teen when he was 16-years-old has been declared guilty of murder and armed robbery, in San Diego’s North County courthouse.
Samuel Ortega Ricardez recently turned 17-years-old while in custody and was tried as an adult. Verdicts were announced Thursday, May 2, 2013.
The jury heard a week of testimony, and then spent another week deliberating before announcing unanimous verdicts. The jury also found Ricardez guilty of gang allegations and personally using a firearm during the murder and robbery.
Prosecutors asserted that Ricardez went into rival gang territory with a group of homies after midnight on a Sunday morning, March 11, 2012.
Ricardez was with a group of five-or-so Varrio Posole Locos who invaded the heart of Center Street Locos territory, the rival neighborhood is just on the other side of freeway 5 in Oceanside, according to testimony of gang experts.
Prosecutor Geoff Allard described an apartment complex in the 400 block of Grant Street in Oceanside, California, as “the de facto headquarters and gathering place for the Center Street Locos.”
The invaders sprayed graffiti and robbed a boy who happened upon the gangsters, according to testimony. The robbery victim was allowed to leave after he gave up his necklace and Ipod, and he survived to testify later.
Testimony suggested that local gangsters living in the neighborhood became aware of the invaders and shot at them; the prosecutor claimed that when Ricardez was running away he came face-to-face with a local teen who recognized him.
That was when Ricardez raised up the long gun he was carrying and shot the other teen in the belly, according to prosecutor Geoff Allard.
Antonio Carachuri Perez, 17, died of a single shotgun blast to his abdomen, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner.
The same judge who heard the trial, Honorable Kimberlee Lagotta, will pronounce sentence the morning of July 8, 2013, in the North County Superior Courthouse located in Vista, California.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/04/44955/
A boy accused of shooting and killing another teen when he was 16-years-old has been declared guilty of murder and armed robbery, in San Diego’s North County courthouse.
Samuel Ortega Ricardez recently turned 17-years-old while in custody and was tried as an adult. Verdicts were announced Thursday, May 2, 2013.
The jury heard a week of testimony, and then spent another week deliberating before announcing unanimous verdicts. The jury also found Ricardez guilty of gang allegations and personally using a firearm during the murder and robbery.
Prosecutors asserted that Ricardez went into rival gang territory with a group of homies after midnight on a Sunday morning, March 11, 2012.
Ricardez was with a group of five-or-so Varrio Posole Locos who invaded the heart of Center Street Locos territory, the rival neighborhood is just on the other side of freeway 5 in Oceanside, according to testimony of gang experts.
Prosecutor Geoff Allard described an apartment complex in the 400 block of Grant Street in Oceanside, California, as “the de facto headquarters and gathering place for the Center Street Locos.”
The invaders sprayed graffiti and robbed a boy who happened upon the gangsters, according to testimony. The robbery victim was allowed to leave after he gave up his necklace and Ipod, and he survived to testify later.
Testimony suggested that local gangsters living in the neighborhood became aware of the invaders and shot at them; the prosecutor claimed that when Ricardez was running away he came face-to-face with a local teen who recognized him.
That was when Ricardez raised up the long gun he was carrying and shot the other teen in the belly, according to prosecutor Geoff Allard.
Antonio Carachuri Perez, 17, died of a single shotgun blast to his abdomen, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner.
The same judge who heard the trial, Honorable Kimberlee Lagotta, will pronounce sentence the morning of July 8, 2013, in the North County Superior Courthouse located in Vista, California.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/04/44955/