Gang Member Pleads Guilty in Shootings at Party

A 20-year-old North Hollywood gang member who shot at a group of guests at a birthday party, killing one man and wounding another, pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder, prosecutors said.

Stephen V. White entered the plea in San Fernando Superior Court. He will be sentenced to 19 years and four months in state prison next month, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen L. Parsons.

The charges stem from the death of Jose Maldonado, 22, who was shot September 18, 1988. Maldonado was at a birthday party in the 7300 block of Vineland Avenue in Sun Valley when a car carrying White and other gang members drove by.

“They saw a lot of people in the yard and made a U-turn,” Parsons said.

The party-goers were not gang members, but the house is located near an area where members of a rival gang hang out, Parsons said.

White, who was in high school at the time of the incident, fired one shot from a sawed-off rifle, killing Maldonado and wounding another man with the same bullet, Parsons said.

“Nobody said anything,” Parsons said. “They were just standing there.”

White faced a maximum sentence of 33 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges.

The driver of the car, Chad Algarin, pleaded guilty last year to being an accessory after the fact and will also be sentenced next month, Parsons said.