More gang members charged in baby’s death

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged four more gang members Friday in the killing of a 23-day-old baby near MacArthur Park last month.

One of the men, Juan Pablo Murillo, is in custody. Three others, Giovanni Macedo, Juvenal Cardenas Mejia and Guadalupe Torres Rangel, are wanted. A fifth man, Luis Silva, was arrested and charged days after the shooting.

The men, all members of the 18th Street gang, have been charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit both murder and extortion.

The men could all face the death penalty, though prosecutors have not decided whether to seek it.

On Sept. 15, the infant, Luis Angel Garcia, was hit by a stray bullet as his mother and hundreds of other shoppers strolled amid the stores and outdoor vendors near the corner of 6th Street and Burlington Avenue.

Authorities said the gunmen were targeting a street vendor on 6th Street near MacArthur Park who had refused to pay $50 in “rent.”

The vendor, Francisco Clemente, also was shot, as was the baby’s mother and the vendor’s girlfriend.

Gary Hearnsberger, who heads the hard-core gang unit of the district attorney’s office, said Murillo was the leader of one of the crews of the 18th Street gang.

“We’ve done a substantial job in taking the people from 18th Street who are taxing and extorting money from the vendors out of that area,” he said.

Hearnsberger said he was hopeful that authorities would track down the other three defendants, even though they believe one or more might have fled to Mexico. “We’re always hopeful that we can bring these people to justice,” he said.

According to the complaint, Mejia and Murillo met on Sept. 15 and discussed collecting rent from street vendors in MacArthur Park and talked about a street vendor who had refused to pay rent or “taxes.” Murillo told Mejia that he would fix the “problem.”

Macedo got a gun and all five met near 6th and Burlington. Macedo began shooting, hitting Clemente and killing Luis, according to the complaint.

The complaint also said some of the defendants had been demanding money from vendors since January.

In addition, the district attorney’s office filed charges Friday in another case against two others for discouraging a witness to the killing from cooperating with police.

And earlier this week, the U.S. attorney’s office indicted 18 members of the gang on charges of using violence and intimidation “to control, oversee and direct” cocaine sales in the area around MacArthur Park.

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anna.gorman@latimes.com