Man to Stand Trial in Killing of Youth During Beeper Dispute

A 19-year-old Reseda man was ordered Thursday to stand trial on charges he murdered a 15-year-old Granada Hills High School student last November in a dispute over an electronic beeper.

Municipal Court Judge John C. Gunn ordered Bayardo Martinez to stand trial in the killing of Marc Andrew Squires, who was fatally wounded at a Nov. 24 party in Chatsworth. Squires, described by friends as a member of a group of disc jockeys who worked teen-age parties, died of his injuries Thanksgiving morning.

Both sides agree that the shooting grew out of an argument that began when Squires’ beeper was stolen weeks before the party.

“At the time of the party, he accused another youth of taking it,” Detective Robert Muldrew said. The youth he accused was a 13-year-old boy.

Squires in turn took a beeper from the 13-year-old, intending to hold it until his beeper was returned or money was given to him to compensate for the theft, Muldrew said. When the 13-year-old’s older brother learned of the incident, he and his friends, including Martinez, confronted Squires in an attempt to recover the beeper.

“Martinez steps in and . . . he involves himself by escalating” the confrontation, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis A. Lockfield. “He had a gun and decided to use it. The kid was only 15 and he was shot in the back,” he said of Squires.

During the preliminary hearing, a witness testified that after shooting Squires, Martinez took the beeper from him as he lay dying.

Defense attorney Henry Salcido argued that the action was self-defense.

Salcido said a youth who was with Squires said, “Go get the .357. I can smoke everyone in this house up.”

“That’s what caused Mr. Martinez to produce the weapon. . . . It was initiated by Marc Squires and his friends,” Salcido said.

Lockfield said Squires’ beeper was not used for drug or illegal activity. “They wear a beeper for status,” he said of the teen-agers.

Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court April 10.