VENTURA : Youth Pleads Guilty in Shooting Death
A 17-year-old gang member has pleaded guilty in Ventura County Juvenile Court to second-degree murder for killing a rival gang member who insulted him in Oxnard last November.
Jesse Cortinas, who belongs to a Filipino gang called the Satanas, admitted that he supplied the gun that was used to kill Manuel (Deadeye) Rodriguez, 20, who belonged to a Latino gang called the Lemonwood Chiques.
Arnel Salagubang, 20, a former Satanas member, was tried as an adult for Rodriguez’s slaying and convicted May 17 of second-degree murder. In a deal made with the district attorney’s office, Cortinas was allowed to plead guilty Tuesday in Juvenile Court and avoid being tried as an adult in exchange for his testimony against Salagubang.
Cortinas testified that on Nov. 22 he handed a single-shot, .22-caliber derringer to Salagubang, who approached Rodriguez, asking, “Do you want some of this?”
Rodriguez replied, “Go ahead, shoot me,” and Salagubang shot him once in the head, Cortinas told the jury. Cortinas could be sentenced to serve time in the California Youth Authority until he is 25, Deputy Dist. Atty. James Irving said. Cortinas is being held at Ventura Juvenile Hall pending a June 25 sentencing.
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