Son of 1 Victim Charged With Murdering 2 Pacoima Sisters

The son of one of two sisters shot to death in their car last November was arraigned in San Fernando Municipal Court Tuesday on two counts of first-degree murder. Another man also has been arrested in the case.

Charles (Carlos) de la Cuesta, 28, is accused of murdering his 61-year-old mother, Angie Hernandez, and his 52-year-old aunt, Mary Gomez, early on the morning of Nov. 8 as the two women drove along a Pacoima street, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Spillane said.

Gilbert Pena, 27, a friend of De la Cuesta, was arrested Monday, according to Pena’s attorney, Jay Jaffe, but charges had not been filed against him by Tuesday. The district attorney’s office has 72 hours from the time of a suspect’s arrest to file charges.

De la Cuesta, who turned himself in at the San Fernando Courthouse just before his arraignment, was ordered held without bail in County Jail. Spillane said he has taken steps to seek the death penalty in the case.

Hearing Set April 25

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 25 in San Fernando Municipal Court.

The investigators’ decision to arrest De la Cuesta and Pena was based on statements from an eyewitness who came forward about two weeks ago, Spillane said. He said other evidence also pointed toward De la Cuesta, but he declined to discuss details or release the name of the eyewitness.

De la Cuesta’s family and relatives, who had posted a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case, insisted in an interview after the arraignment that both men are innocent of the crime. They said De la Cuesta, the youngest of four brothers, loved his mother and had helped to support her for several years.

Two family members, who asked not to be identified, said the eyewitness was an acquaintance of Hernandez and Gomez who “must be trying to hide something” because she waited so long to come forward.

Account of Events

After the arraignment, Spillane said investigators had used statements from the family and the eyewitness to piece together events leading up to the shooting.

He said Donna de la Cuesta, Carlos’ wife, called Angie Hernandez shortly before midnight on Nov. 7 to ask her to come over to the De la Cuesta house in Mission Hills. Carlos had just left the house following an argument, Spillane said.

The eyewitness told police she spotted Hernandez and Gomez driving in the area about 12:30 a.m. Spillane said police believe the women were either on their way to the De la Cuesta house or were searching for him to take him home.

Spillane said the eyewitness told authorities that De la Cuesta, driving his wife’s car, turned a corner and stopped when he saw his mother’s car.

Hernandez stopped her car and backed up to the curb to talk to her son. After a brief argument, the eyewitness told authorities, Hernandez began to step from her car and De la Cuesta shot her and Gomez.

De la Cuesta’s cousin, Blinky Rodriguez, who insists that his cousin is innocent, said that the De la Cuestas frequently have “small domestic squabbles,” and that Hernandez often went out to find her son and take him home “because she wanted that marriage to succeed.”

“There is no possible way in the world that my cousin did this,” Rodriguez said. “First we lose these two wonderful women, and now they’re taking Carlos and dragging his name through the mud. . . . Everyone in our family is standing behind Carlos 110%. The police and the district attorney, they are completely out of line on this.”

De la Cuesta’s defense attorney, Barry Hammond, said he believes the “evidence in this case is extremely weak.” He said the suspect “has no prior record, he has never been in trouble in his life, he has a good job as a contractor and he has a good family.”