Suspected Gang Member Convicted in Car Accident

A suspected Baldwin Park gang member was convicted of second-degree murder this week for causing an auto accident in which his passenger, a fellow gang member, was killed.

A Pomona Superior Court jury deliberated about four hours before finding 21-year-old George Delatorre guilty on Monday of second-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 5 crash, which left 18-year-old Conrad Franco dead.

Authorities said they do not believe that Delatorre intended to harm Franco, who they contend was leaning out the passenger window firing a .38-caliber revolver at a carload of rival gang members ahead.

But prosecutors argued that Delatorre, who ran a red light and slammed his dark gray Monte Carlo into a pickup truck, knowingly created the circumstances that led to Franco’s death.

“He was fully aware and conscious of the dangers to human life,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis E. Ferris. “That makes it murder.”

Testifying on his own behalf at last week’s trial, Delatorre denied that he was driving the car. A third man, whose name he did not know, was behind the wheel, Delatorre said.

Delatorre, who was arrested by Baldwin Park police as he ran from the accident scene, testified that he had been in the back seat, where he had been nearly unconscious after smoking PCP and drinking 17 beers.

But authorities said that his injuries--a sore chest and cuts to the forehead--were consistent with those that would have been suffered by the driver.