Three men who went into perceived rival gang territory in 2012 in the Mount Hope neighborhood of San Diego were convicted today of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy.
Arnold Celaya, 24, Angel Burquez, 23, and Antriel Matthews, 24, each face life in prison without the possibility of parole when they are sentenced Jan. 15.
Jurors found that two firearms were used in the killing of Richy Carrillo and that the crime was done to further gang activities, said Deputy District Attorney Shawn Tafreshi.
The victim — known to loved ones as Little “Richy,” was gunned down in the south alley of 3500 Island Avenue about 8 p.m. on March 24, 2012. He had turned 14 three weeks before his death.
The eighth-grader was sitting on the tailgate of a parked pickup, talking with friends outside an apartment complex, when a dark-colored SUV rolled up and two men in their 20s got out and starting shooting at him and others in his group, according to San Diego police.
Jurors found that Matthews fired the gun that killed Carrillo and Burquez fired a second gun but missed hitting anyone, Tafreshi said.
Celaya and Matthews were already in prison on robbery convictions when they were charged with Carrillo’s murder. Burquez was arrested in June 2014 on a traffic warrant.
— City News Service
