A California jury that convicted a gunman for the gang hate killing of a black teenager meets next week to decide if he will face the death penalty.

Jurors on Monday found 31-year-old Daniel Murillo Salgado guilty of murder for the racially motivated car-to-car shooting death of 13-year-old Markess Lancaster in Riverside in October 2002. The jury also found the shooting was a hate crime.
The same jury begins hearing testimony in the penalty phase of trial on April 21.
Investigators tell the Riverside Press-Enterprise that Lancaster was targeted by a Hispanic gang because he was black and the killers wrongly believed he and others with him were rival gang members.
Three other defendants have either been convicted or pleaded guilty.

Guns and gangs unit probe gun found in checked bags

A 47-year-old Alberta man could face up to three years in jail as well as numerous fines stemming from his arrest at the Ottawa International Airport. John Robert Laponsée was arrested Monday after an unloaded .22 calibre firearm was discovered in his checked baggage during a routine screening. Laponsée was scheduled to be on an Alberta-bound flight. He told police he was in Ottawa visiting his mother. Police said Laponsée was not attempting to bring the gun on board the plane, but noted the gun was not registered. Sgt. Ken Bryden of the Ottawa Guns and Gangs unit said police were still investigating Laponsee's intentions and how he came to be in possession of the handgun. Laponsée faces five charges, one with a minimum three-year jail sentence. Bryden said this is the first time he has been called to the airport for this type of offence.

 

Police arrested three Vineland men on weapons charges after a drive-by shooting outside a house on the 400 block of Cherry Street.

Police responded to the scene at 6:36 p.m. Tuesday. Several people were on the porch, but no injuries were reported. Witnesses told police the gunshots were fired at the house from a white Acura that fled west on Cherry Street.

Members of the city's Street Crimes Unit spotted a vehicle matching the description at West and Chestnut avenues with three occupants. When the officers tried to pull over the car, it took off with the officers in pursuit.

Police pursued the car down several side streets. At one point, officers said, they saw something tossed from car. Police said they recovered the item, which was a handgun.

A short time later, the suspects' vehicle slowed down, police said. The backseat passenger, 21-year-old Thomas Profit Jr. of the 700 block of Humbert Street, jumped out the car and ran away. He was captured after a brief chase, police said.

The suspect behind the wheel of the car then drove away in an attempt to elude the officer, but the vehicle crashed into a tree at West and Foster avenues, police said.

The driver, Marlin Milbourne, 19, of the 300 block of Rainbow Lane, and passenger Thareick Archer, 20, of the 400 block of Foster Avenue, got out of the car and ran in opposite directions, police said.

Police said they caught Milbourne and Archer after a brief foot chase by patrol units that had converged on the area.

All three men were charged with aggravated assault, two weapons offenses, obstruction and resisting arrest. Milbourne also was charged with eluding.

Each man was being held in Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 cash bail.

houseful of people on the northeast side narrowly escaped a hail of bullets from a drive-by shooting early Friday morning.

houseful of people on the northeast side narrowly escaped a hail of bullets from a drive-by shooting early Friday morning.
The shots tore through the house and broke windows. SAPD officers said the bullets came within inches of family members as they slept.
Police said 10 gunshots rang out just after midnight in the 5300 block of El Medano Street.
A car in the driveway and the house itself were struck multiple times. Police said bullets tore through the home, where 10 people, including four small children, were sleeping.
The homeowner told police one bullet almost hit him in the head.
Police said the suspects used a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Detectives found 10 shell casings in the street.
Police are still searching for the suspects.

Police said a man was shot at a BBQ on N. Hancock Ave. near Columbia St. Saturday.

Neighbors told KRDO Newschannel13 that a large group of people, including children, were having a party when a fight broke out at about 7:30 p.m. Police got a call that shots were fired in the area, and soon after, a shooting victim arrived at Memorial Hospital. Police said the man was driven there by friends or family, not taken by ambulance.
Police said that when they arrived at the home, people at the party had scattered, and that they got conflicting stories from people at the house. Police could not provide any suspect description.
The CSPD Major Crimes Unit arrived at the home at about 10:00 p.m., and N. Hancock was blocked off with crime tape from Columbia St. to Janes Ln.

Two teenagers were found shot and wounded in an alley after an apparent drive-by shooting

Two teenagers were found shot and wounded in an alley after an apparent drive-by shooting near a Santa Ana high school.
The Orange County Register reports that when police responded to a report of a fight Friday afternoon at a parking lot near Century High School, it had been broken up.
Officers discovered the wounded teens in a nearby alley. A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old suffered shots to the leg and the buttocks, respectively, but the wounds were not life threatening.
Cpl. Anthony Bertagna says a white Lincoln was seen circling the area, firing rounds at the victims.
The shooting is under investigation.

Simmons admitted to the 2007 attack which saw him burst into a city home and fire a bullet into the stomach of his victim.

Noah Simmons was just inches away from killing a man in 2007. Now he is months away from being back on the streets.
The former street-gang member was sentenced to one year in jail Monday after pleading guilty for a near-fatal home invasion. Simmons admitted to the 2007 attack which saw him burst into a city home and fire a bullet into the stomach of his victim. The man was lucky to survive the attack but has since made a full recovery, court was told.
Simmons, 30, has spent the past three years in pre-trial custody, which Crown and defence lawyers agreed should be given double-time credit of six years. That's because recent legislative changes which outlaw the controversial two-for-one practice weren't in place at the time of his arrest.
The Crown said there were major problems with their case -- including a lack of eyewitness identification and another witness who recanted her story - that could have resulted in an acquittal had Simmons gone to trial.
As a result, the Crown agreed to recommend a much more lenient sentence of seven years on paper in exchange for him taking responsibility.
"This represents a classic dilemma," said Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal. "It is the only real way to get some kind of accountability for a dreadful act."
Simmons admits targeting the victim because he believed the man -- a known drug dealer -- had sexually assaulted a female he knew earlier that night, court was told. Simmons was a member of the Native Syndicate street gang at the time and was on parole following a string of other violent criminal convictions.
Joyal called his actions "barbaric vigilantism" which can't be condoned by society.

former leader of the Huntington chapter of the MS-13 street gang has been convicted of murder and federal racketeering charges.

A jury found 25-year-old Julio “Flechita” Chavez guilty following a trial at federal court in Brooklyn along with Oscar “Taz” Fuentes, 30, former leader of the New York state chapters of MS-13.

Prosecutors said the two men killed 21-year-old Maurice Parker in Flushing in May 2007 because his friend was wearing a red sweatshirt—a color often worn by members of the rival Bloods street gang.

“The convictions have ensured that the defendants will never again walk the streets,” Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

Both men face mandatory minimum sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Parker was shot six times, including three shots to the head. He died at the scene.

Two men have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Patterson house Monday

Two men have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Patterson house Monday where investigators say hundreds of marijuana plants were found.

The resident of the home on the 1400 block of Carly Creek was wounded and remained in critical condition after surgery, said Sgt. Keith Rakoncza with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.

Two documented Norteno gang members have been taken into custody for their alleged involvement, Rakoncsa said.

Ignacio Michael Lopez, 21, was booked into Stanislaus County Jail for attempted homicide, active participation in criminal street gang, committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang, and conspiracy to commit a felony while participating in a criminal street gang.

Jonathan Gilbert McKnight, 23, was arrested for attempted homicide, active participation in criminal street gang, committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang, conspiracy to commit a felony while participating in a criminal street gang, and committing a crime while out on bail, Rakoncsa said. McKnight was free on bail after a September 2010 arrest for assault with a deadly weapon that occurred in Patterson.

Rakoncsa said detectives have identified a third suspect and were actively looking for that person.

More than 700 pot plants were removed from the house were the shooting took place, Rakoncsa said.

Council on American Islamic Relations has also offered a $5,000 reward

Elk Grove police have asked the community to help them locate a possible suspect vehicle in the shooting of two men from the Sikh community Friday afternoon.
A spokesperson for the police department said detectives are looking for a 1999-2003 Ford F150, tan or light brown in color.
The spokesperson said the vehicle was seen in the area just after the shooting.
The Council on American Islamic Relations has also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible.
Friday, two elderly members of the Sikh community were shot while walking.
Gurmej Atwal, 78, is in the hospital recovering, after undergoing surgery for his gun shot wounds.
"He looks much better than yesterday," said Kamaljeet Kaur Atwal, Gurmej Atwal's daughter-in-law. "He opened his eyes all the way but yesterday he opened only a little."
Gurmej Atwal's son, Kamaljit Singh Atwal, said he will have to undergo one more surgery.
Surinder Singh, 65, died at the scene.