Ventura 17-Year-Old to Be Tried for Murder in Drive-By Slayings

A 17-year-old Ventura boy was ordered Monday to stand trial for murder in the drive-by shooting of two Saticoy men last month.

But a witness testified that the defendant, Edward (Tony) Throop, shot on the orders of a 15-year-old buddy who was supposed to fire the first rounds but backed out.

“Joseph was supposed to shoot first, but he handed the gun to Tony,” said witness Jessica Medrano, 13, who met the boys shortly after the shooting and testified Monday about what they had told her.

“Joseph said, ‘Do it, do it, do it,’ and he just did it,” Jessica said, quoting Throop’s account of what happened.

Throop’s 15-year-old friend, identified during the hearing as Joseph Scholle, has also been charged with murder in the killings. Under state law, however, a 15-year-old cannot stand trial as an adult and cannot be held in custody past age 25.

Throop, two years older, has already been found unfit for juvenile court. Prosecutors are trying to send him to prison for life without possibility of parole.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Ventura County Municipal Judge Lee E. Cooper Jr. said he had heard enough evidence to order Throop to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

Throop, Scholle and two 16-year-olds have been charged with the murders of Javier Ramirez, 19, and Rolando Martinez, 20, who were shot early April 7 as they stood outside a baptism party in the Cabrillo Village neighborhood of Saticoy. Investigators say the youths did the shooting to get back at a Cabrillo Village gang, but the victims were not gang members.

Hearings are scheduled next month on whether the 16-year-olds will be treated as adults in the court system. They have been identified in court as Carlos Vargas of Oxnard and Vincent Medrano--Jessica’s brother--who lives in Ventura.

Throop’s attorneys have acknowledged that he was the triggerman, firing into the party crowd from two blocks away as he sat in the right rear seat of a red Camaro. But they say that the shooting was not premeditated and that Throop did not intend to hit anyone. They say he is guilty of no more than second-degree murder, which would carry a prison term of 15 years to life for each death.

Prosecutors insist that Throop is guilty of first-degree murder, arguing that the boys planned the shooting and bought the .22-caliber rifle the same day. Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris said Throop’s “remarkably accurate” shots, which also struck and injured two other men, indicate that he “must have intended to kill somebody.”

Jessica Medrano said she and two girlfriends were with the boys before the shooting and met them again soon afterward. She said she asked if they had hit anybody.

“Tony said he shot in the air and saw people falling,” she said. “He said he thought they were just ducking down.”

“Joseph said he threw the El Rio sign out the window,” she said, referring to a hand signal for the El Rio gang that Scholle belonged to. “He was real happy.”

Jessica said Throop had drunk a fifth of tequila before the shooting and was angry with Scholle for foisting the gun on him at the last minute: “He told Joseph, ‘How come you don’t have respect for me? You always make me do things for you.’ ”

Another girl who was with the four suspects on the night of the shooting, Lorina Gallardo, testified last week that 15-year-old Scholle was the leader of the group. “He kept telling them what to do,” Lorina said. “He was telling Tony what to do.”

Jessica Medrano testified that the following night Throop came over to see her brother and started crying.

“He said, ‘I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill those people. I was drunk,’ ” she said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Saundra T. Brewer said the witnesses are trying to focus attention on Scholle to help Throop.

“These kids are pretty savvy about the criminal justice system,” she said. “They all know that Joseph is the only one who is absolutely going to be handled in juvenile court.”

“I don’t think Joseph is a choirboy by any means,” she added. “All four are very deeply involved in what happened. I don’t think Joseph has any great power over the rest of them.”

As for the fairness of treating Scholle differently from the other defendants, she said: “He lucked out, if that’s an appropriate thing to say.”