| For Immediate Release September 14, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell |
15-YEAR-OLD GANG MEMBER AND ASSOCIATE TO BE CHARGED WITH MURDER IN RETALIATORY GANG SHOOTING
SANTA ANA – A 15-year-old gang member will be charged as an adult for murdering a man in a retaliatory gang shooting in Santa Ana. Sergio Gonzalez, Santa Ana, and Antonio Barboza, 19, Santa Ana, are charged with murder and street terrorism, with enhancements for committing a murder for the purpose of a criminal street gang and for vicariously discharging a firearm causing death as a gang member. If convicted, they face life without the possibility of parole. Barboza was in court this afternoon and his arraignment has been continued to September 29, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. in Department
C-5. Gonzalez is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, September 15, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Both will be held without bail.
On September 11, 2006, at around 6:00 p.m., Gonzalez and Barboza, members of a Hispanic Santa Ana criminal street gang, are accused of approaching three Asian men sitting in a car in the 1500 block of South Minnie. They are accused of demanding to know where the three Asian men were from, and then pulling out a gun and shooting the front passenger, Sam Chea, 23, multiple times. Chea later died.
Both are accused of committing the murder in retaliation for a gang stabbing that occurred three hours earlier on the same day. At 3:00 p.m., Gonzalez’s 14-year-old younger brother was stabbed to death near Century High School in Santa Ana.
Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) is continuing to investigate this case. Anyone with additional information about either of these murders should contact SAPD Commander Baltazar De La Riva at (714) 245-8410 or District Attorney Supervising Investigator Jaime Joyce at (714) 347-8521.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Geller of the Gang Unit is prosecuting this case.
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