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Even on his birthday, Andrew Reyna couldn’t flip down an order from the Mexican Mafia.
That’s in accordance with a Lengthy Seashore Police Division detective who testified Wednesday about proof that led authorities to cost Reyna and two others with the homicide of Samuel Villalba.
Villalba, an Artesia native nicknamed “Negro,” was stated to have been a made member of the Mexican Mafia, a jail syndicate that holds sway over many Latino gangs in Southern California. On the time of his loss of life on Jan. 10, 2021, Villalba, 64, was residing in a tent beneath a freeway overpass in Lengthy Seashore.
Prosecutors allege Reyna was ordered to kill Villalba, who’d been marked for loss of life after getting right into a dispute with one other Mexican Mafia member.
At a preliminary listening to Wednesday, Det. Leticia Gamboa testified the message was relayed by means of David Oropeza, who like Reyna belonged to the Eastside Paramount gang.
Reyna’s lawyer, Theodore Batsakis, stated his consumer denies killing Villalba however declined to remark additional. Reyna and Oropeza have pleaded not responsible to costs of homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide.
A lot of what authorities know concerning the murder comes from Jairo Rodriguez Duque, who can also be charged with Villalba’s homicide.
Rodriguez’s lawyer, Scott Sanders, instructed The Occasions that Rodriguez could have described what led as much as Villalba’s killing however he didn’t participate in it.
“I wish to be completely clear,” Sanders instructed The Occasions. “Jairo Rodriguez by no means stated he participated on this homicide. That is why we’ve trials, and we’re very a lot trying ahead to proving Jairo Rodriguez didn’t do that homicide.”
Arrested in June, Rodriguez instructed detectives that Oropeza invited him to a celebration the day Villalba was killed, Gamboa testified. Rodriguez and Oropeza each labored at Homeboy Industries, a program that helps gang members and parolees discover work, go to high school and take away tattoos, amongst different companies. Oropeza, 50, spent a couple of decade in jail for manslaughter, court docket data present.
It was Reyna’s forty fifth birthday, and Rodriguez stated he and Oropeza have been celebrating at Reyna’s home when Oropeza acquired a name. After talking in a hushed tone, Gamboa testified, Oropeza hung up, turned to Reyna and stated, “Go deal with that.”
In keeping with the detective, Oropeza instructed Reyna to take a “teenager” with him.
“I’m going to take this one right here,” Reyna allegedly stated, gesturing to Rodriguez, then 20.
With Reyna giving instructions, Rodriguez stated he drove to a residential space and parked. They walked behind a shopping mall, hopped a fence and continued alongside a dust path to a homeless camp. Rodriguez stated Reyna slipped on a pair of gloves and handed him a masks, Gamboa testified.
Reyna began peering into tents, asking for somebody, Rodriguez stated.
After serving about 16 years in federal jail for racketeering, Villalba ended up residing in a group of tents alongside the railroad tracks that run beneath the 91 Freeway. He was hooked on heroin and affected by cirrhosis, in accordance with a search warrant affidavit and a coroner’s report. The affidavit stated Villalba saved his tent “neat and arranged.”
When Reyna appeared inside Villalba’s tent, Gamboa testified, he stated: “I discovered you.”
In keeping with what Rodriguez instructed detectives, Reyna shot Villalba and instructed Rodriguez to run.
“What the f—?” Rodriguez requested Reyna as they drove away.
“Don’t fear about it,” Reyna replied, in Rodriguez’s telling. “He was a bit of s—. Don’t be a bit of b—.”
They returned to Reyna’s home, the place Oropeza was ready, Gamboa testified. In keeping with the detective, Oropeza had texted Rodriguez simply earlier than the killing, asking him to select up sodas on the best way dwelling.
“It’s finished,” Reyna instructed Oropeza after they walked in, in accordance with Rodriguez.
“Don’t fear,” Oropeza allegedly instructed Rodriguez. “Nothing’s going to occur to you.”
Gamboa testified that she canvassed the world the place Villalba’s killers have been seen fleeing on surveillance video. Close to a fence they’d clambered over, Gamboa stated, she discovered a latex glove that contained Reyna’s DNA.
Oropeza’s lawyer, Kevin McGurk, argued that prosecutors couldn’t show his consumer agreed to homicide Villalba. He didn’t present the alleged killers a weapon, automobile, cash or assist evading arrest, he stated. Oropeza could have recognized Villalba was going to get killed, McGurk stated, however “information, unhealthy intentions, will not be sufficient.”
Unpersuaded, Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Decide Laura Laesecke stated she’d seen sufficient proof for Oropeza to face trial. Reyna and Rodriguez have but to have their preliminary listening to.
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