LA HABRA : Man, 22, Sentenced in Gang Slaying

A La Habra man, one of four people convicted in the gang-related slaying of a Huntington Beach youth, was sentenced Friday to 21 years and eight months to life in prison.

Marcos A. Damian, 22, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Richard L. Weatherspoon in Santa Ana to 15 years to life for second-degree murder for his role in the killing of Leo A. Huicochea, 16, in a La Habra alley. Damian received an additional year because a gun was used in the killing, plus five years for firing into an unoccupied dwelling and eight months for firing into an unoccupied vehicle.

Two teen-age girls and another youth also were convicted of second-degree murder for their roles in the slaying. They will be sentenced later.

The man suspected of being the triggerman in the killing, Cesar Ernesto Vasquez, 19, of Anaheim, is still at large.

Leo Huicochea was gunned down in an alley in February, 1991, in the aftermath of gang dispute involving a damaged car, police said. The killing was the final act in a nighttime crime rampage intended to “pay back” rival gang members, prosecutors said.

The rampage began, authorities said, when one of the teen-age girls and her boyfriend robbed a couple of their car, then picked up the other three defendants and rode around around in the stolen car.

The group later spotted Huicochea and a friend, who made “hand gestures,” prosecutors said. One shot was fired, and it hit the youth in the face. He died at the scene.