Three gang members charged in 2002 killing of teen on way to school

Three additional gang members have been charged in connection with the 2002 kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old girl headed to school in Montebello, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Brenda Sierra was kidnapped Oct. 18, 2002, while on her way to Schurr High School in Montebello. She was then taken to a gang hangout where she was beaten, sexually assaulted and killed. Her body was found in the San Bernardino Mountains the next day.

Investigators believe that the girl was targeted because her brother had testified as a witness in a gang shooting about 10 days before she vanished.

According to prosecutors, between Oct. 7 and Oct. 18 in 2002, Eddie Chavira, 30, was in custody over the shooting and told a fellow Lott gang member that he was going to have other members of the gang “take care of witnesses,” according to prosecutors.

Chavira then got in touch with his 15-year-old sister, Rosemary Chavira, to help with the effort. Rosemary Chavira, now 28, was charged in March with the killing, making a significant turn in the case.

Eddie Chavira, 30, who is in prison on an unrelated manslaughter conviction, was charged Tuesday with one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to intimidate a witness.

Daniel Cervantes, 35, and George Barraza, 35, who were part of the same gang, were each charged Tuesday with one count of murder, conspiracy to dissuade a witness and forcible rape with the special circumstance of felony murder during the commission of a kidnapping and to further a street gang. Barraza is a fugitive.

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