On a Monday night time in February, police say, Roberto Martinez took his 14-year-old son within the Pico-Union neighborhood on a graffiti spree.
With a can of yellow spray paint, they marked the facades of a pawn store, laundromat and furnishings retailer with the names of their gangs, in response to a a Los Angeles Police Division detective wrote in a search warrant affidavit.
Driving down Normandie Avenue, Martinez and his son got here throughout Kevin Rivera, who was crossing the road, the affidavit says. The muzzle of a handgun poked out from their automobile’s passenger window, a witness informed police. Martinez’s son squeezed the set off 5 instances, taking pictures Rivera to loss of life and wounding two others, the detective wrote within the affidavit.
Martinez, 43, and his son are charged with murdering Rivera, whom Martinez believed to belong to a rival gang, the detective wrote within the affidavit.
Martinez has pleaded not responsible. A lawyer who represented Martinez at his arraignment directed inquiries to the Los Angeles County public defender’s media representatives, who didn’t reply to a request for remark. It wasn’t clear who was representing Martinez’s son, whose case isn’t public due to his age.
Some gang members comply with within the footsteps of fathers, uncles or brothers, but it surely’s uncommon to see an older relative direct them to commit violence, a former gang member mentioned.
Ramon Mendoza, who as soon as belonged to the Varrio Nuevo Estrada road gang and Mexican Mafia jail gang, mentioned many gangsters don’t wish to carry their youngsters into a way of life that always results in loss of life or jail.
“The hardcore gang members, they search for essentially the most half to insulate the innocents, their household, from what they’re,” Mendoza mentioned. However in some uncommon circumstances, he mentioned, “fairly than deter and discourage their youngsters, in some sick approach they have a look at [violence] as a type of bonding occasion.”
Martinez has been out and in of jail since 2005 for possessing medicine and weapons, in response to court docket data. Nicknamed “Stranger,” he’s a member of a Hollywood gang referred to as The Magicians’ Membership, or TMC, Det. James Ball of the Los Angeles Police Division wrote within the affidavit.
The night of Feb. 10, Martinez and his son have been recorded by surveillance cameras tagging a stretch of Venice and Pico boulevards, Ball wrote. Police discovered scrawled on the facet of a enterprise “TMC” and “Hellbound.”
A small crew based mostly within the Koreatown and Mid-Metropolis neighborhoods, Hellbound is a rival of a extra established gang referred to as the Playboys, Ball wrote.
Surveillance footage confirmed Martinez’s son and his pals tagging a laundromat whereas the daddy flashed gang indicators at passing automobiles, the detective wrote.
In keeping with the affidavit, the group piled right into a black Honda Accord and traveled to Pico Boulevard and Fedora Avenue, the center of the Playboys’ territory. In yellow paint, they wrote “Hellbound” and “PBSK” — quick for Playboys Killers, Ball wrote.
About 4 blocks away, Rivera, 30, was strolling down Normandie Avenue. The Accord drove previous him, then made a U-turn, a witness informed detectives. A suspect carrying a hooded sweatshirt — believed by police to be Martinez’s son — fired out of the rear passenger window.
Rivera was fatally shot within the again. A person crossing the road was struck within the hip and a lady sitting in her automobile was grazed by a bullet, in response to the affidavit.
Six days later, a prisoner referred to as Martinez, who talked about a taking pictures within the recorded name, Ball wrote.
“4 individuals received dropped and one died,” Martinez mentioned, in response to the detective.
The sufferer was from Playboys, Martinez added. Rivera’s household couldn’t be reached for remark.
“My son did what he needed to do, canine,” Martinez mentioned within the recorded name, in response to the affidavit. “Truthfully I attempted to cease him. I attempted to seize the gun.”
Detectives allege this wasn’t true. Ball wrote that Martinez handed his son the .40-caliber Glock used to kill Rivera.
Two days after Martinez was arrested on suspicion of Rivera’s homicide, LAPD officers in Wilmington detained a person who was driving a Dodge pickup stolen throughout a house invasion theft in Perris, Ball wrote. Antonio Alvarez had allegedly tossed a stolen .40-caliber Glock through the pursuit.
Ballistics testing confirmed the gun was used to kill Rivera, the affidavit says. WhatsApp messages on Alvarez’s telephone confirmed he purchased the Glock for $800 5 days after Rivera was shot to loss of life, Ball wrote.
The sale was coordinated by somebody utilizing a telephone that pinged off a cell tower close to Centinela State Jail, in response to the affidavit. Ball wrote he’s nonetheless investigating who brokered the sale.
