Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Drive-By Slaying
A 23-year-old suspected gang member from Long Beach pleaded not guilty this week in the drive-by slaying of a San Pedro man who was gunned down while celebrating his 21st birthday, Los Angeles police said.
Gerson Melendez was arrested late Friday night at his home, said LAPD Detective Tom Lange. A second gang member is being sought in the Aug. 5 slaying, Lange said.
Melendez was arraigned on one murder count filed in the slaying of Luis Navarro, who was shot to death about 1 a.m. a few blocks from his home. The slaying occurred when Navarro and a friend left Navarro’s birthday party to buy some cigarettes. En route, a car carrying gang members pulled alongside the one driven by Navarro and he was shot once in the side.
Police previously said Navarro was not a gang member and that no motive for his killing had been established. “We may never know the motive,” Lange said.
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