Two Men Arrested in 17-Year-Old’s Murder

Two Anaheim men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering 17-year-old Rosendo Ibarra, who was shot in the head Monday at a pay telephone in a shopping center parking lot, police said Thursday.

David Alan Davis, 22, and Joe David Kehler, 23, were arrested by police in Cypress and in Garden Grove and may be arraigned on murder charges as early as today, authorities said.

Garden Grove Police Capt. David Abrecht said investigators have also recovered a .38-caliber revolver and have ordered forensic tests to determine whether it is the murder weapon.

Police are still searching for several other people believed to have taken part in what they initially suspected was a gang-related slaying, Abrecht said.

Police, politicians and community leaders have expressed alarm over a recent spate of deadly gang shootings. Though details were sketchy Thursday, police said there were some indications that drug or gang conflicts may have played a role in the Ibarra killing.

“Davis and Kehler are not readily identifiable as gang members, but they associated with gang members,” Abrecht said.

“I don’t know that we have a gang shooting or a shooting about a drug deal or owed money or what,” Abrecht added. “And I don’t think we will know that until we catch up with the other people.”

The victim’s relatives said Thursday that Ibarra was not a gang member and that he was not involved with drugs. But they said the facts suggest that his killing had been planned.

It was the arrest of Kehler and another man on drug charges on Monday that gave police their first break in the murder case.

Ibarra, an unemployed construction worker, was shot about 11 p.m. Monday at a pay phone in the parking lot of a shopping center on Katella Avenue, near Gilbert Street. He had been living across the street with an aunt, and family members often used that pay phone because they did not have a telephone in the house.

About 11:30 p.m., Cypress police were called to a loud party in a motel room in the 5800 block of Katella, about three miles west of the murder scene, said Cypress Police Lt. John Schaefer.

When Officers Dave Birozy and Dan Forniss opened the door, they smelled marijuana and then found several ounces of the drug packaged for sale, Schaefer said.

Five people were detained for questioning, and ultimately, Kehler and another man, Gilbert Romero Bill, 21, of Stanton, were arrested on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, Schaefer said.

During the course of the investigation, however, Birozy learned of a link to the Ibarra case and invited Garden Grove detectives to interview Kehler, Schaefer said. Authorities declined to specify the link.

Davis was arrested Wednesday evening, Abrecht said. The gun was also recovered, but Abrecht could not say whether the gun belonged to Davis.

Court records show no prior convictions for Kehler, Bill or Davis.

The victim’s aunt, Virginia De La Reyes, said that the night before the shooting, relatives had noticed an old, dark-colored Cadillac circling their block in the Colonia Independencia neighborhood and driving around the small shopping center across the street. De La Reyes said she was suspicious, but the next night, Ibarra went out anyway to use the phone.

He was speaking with his girlfriend when he was shot in the side of the head, relatives said. A cousin, Mona Marquez, said she heard four shots, rushed out of the house and held Ibarra in her arms as he died.

“I don’t know who to hate, but I want something to be done,” Marquez said.

Relatives said they did not know Kehler or Davis and were at a loss to explain the shooting.

“They probably had this planned, because it looked like they had done a round (of the neighborhood) before,” De La Reyes said.

The arrests did not seem to console the relatives.

“We’re not gangsters here; we’re a family,” said another of Ibarra’s aunts, Juanita Peter. “Rosendo was well-respected.”

Times staff writer Lily Eng contributed to this report.