Two teens, engaged as hitmen for the Sinaloa Cartel during a pair of shootings in Chula Vista last year, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges.
Andrew Nunez, 16, and Johncarlo Quintero, 17, admitted to the March 27, 2024 attack at a residence.
The boys, both 15 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of two men on behalf of a Mexican Mafia-affiliated gang, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Both victims survived, but an accomplice, Ricardo Sanchez died, leading to more charges for Nunez, aka Felon and Shooter, and Quintero, aka Dumper.
They pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Sanchez, 28, who was shot by one of the victims in self-defense. Under the provocative act murder doctrine, the defendants were held accountable for his killing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Nunez and Quintero were specifically recruited for the hit because of their age, with the goal of keeping the perpetrators from being prosecuted as adults. The teens, who hoped “to gain entrance to, to maintain, and to increase their positions” in the Westside Wilmas gang, were paid $50,000 each.
Prosecutors say the defendants came from Wilmington, a portside community in Los Angeles. They added that the Wilmas gang engages in drug trafficking, weapons distribution, the collection and transfer of narcotics proceeds and levies, armed assaults and murders.
Last year, on March 26, the teen hitmen made their way to a Chili’s restaurant in Chula Vista, where the target was eating with his family.
As the family was leaving, Quintero and Nunez drove behind them in the parking lot. Quintero fired one shot that struck the victim in his legs, prosecutors said. Quintero could not fire again because his gun jammed, so the defendants fled, but not before Nunez attempted to strike the victim with their vehicle.
Early the next morning, the defendants and Sanchez showed up at the victim’s home in another attempt to kill him. They opened fire “indiscriminately,” resulting in a friend of the target being shot in the hand, arm and face, prosecutors said. That victim returned fire, killing Sanchez.
Nunez and Quintero fled the scene, but Chula Vista police soon arrested them.
They are slated to be sentenced March 20 before U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson.
Mark Dargis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office, said in a statement, “The disgraceful tactic of cartels, street gangs and the Mexican Mafia using underage children for murderous acts to evade enhanced punishments will not be tolerated. These violent crimes have no place in our communities and criminal gangs will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
