SANTA ANA : Murder Charges Likely in Shooting

Prosecutors are expected to file murder and assault charges today against two men arrested in the drive-by shooting death of a 12-year-old Santa Ana boy who happened on the scene of a drug deal gone awry, police said Thursday.

Police Lt. Robert Helton said investigators recovered a .45-caliber handgun when they took Thomas Trung Nguyen 22, of Santa Ana and Minh Chi Nguyen, 19, of San Bernardino into custody. Both suspects are being held in Orange County Jail.

Pedro Sanchez Hernandez was fatally wounded late Tuesday as he and his 16-year-old brother Gus walked to the corner of Wood and Myrtle streets in Santa Ana.

A short time earlier, two men in a white Nissan truck had allegedly attempted to buy drugs from someone on the corner. A dispute erupted and police and witnesses say several youths in the neighborhood hurled bottles at the truck. The truck sped off, but returned moments later.

Witnesses said four shots were fired from the vehicle, one striking Hernandez in the head and another hitting a 17-year-old bystander in the leg.

About two hours later, Westminster police stopped a truck matching the vehicle’s description and took two teen-agers into custody. After questioning them and other witnesses, police later arrested the two suspects.

The central Santa Ana neighborhood where the shooting took place has seen a flood of drug activity despite heightened police patrols, said Lt. Robert Chavez. It is considered one of the city’s “priority areas” for drug enforcement, Chavez said. But many of the dealers warn each other of approaching police patrols and have enlisted neighborhood youths to act as lookouts, he added.

“We can’t say we have been really successful,” Chavez said. “Soon after we arrest the dealers, they are back on the streets again.”

The 12-year-old’s death is the second drug-related homicide in the neighborhood in four months. In May, Celestino Morales Davila was accidently shot by a friend who was attempting to fire a warning shot to scare away a group of drug dealers.