Self-Defense Claim Protects Gang Killers From Arrest

Just one day after 60-year-old June Guin was killed by a stray bullet and a gang member was slain during a shootout between rival gangs in a La Puente neighborhood, five suspects were identified by authorities.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives thought that it would be a short time before they pieced together the full story and made arrests that would lead to a murder prosecution.

But more than two months later, no murder charges have been filed and only one suspect is in custody--on an unrelated charge.

Each side in the gang fray accuses the other of shooting first. And all five suspects say that the shots were fired in self-defense, creating an “oddball case” with a major obstacle, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis Ferris.

“We know who did the killing, but they may not be responsible,” he said. “You’re entitled to defend yourself.”

Self-defense is a common claim in gang shootings, said Ferris, a veteran of five years of prosecuting gang members in Pomona Superior Court. But this case is unique, he said. Detectives have been unable to cut through the claim and establish who shot first. Hard evidence--such as the weapons fired, gunshot residue and witnesses willing to testify--is lacking.

Despite a $10,000 reward offered by the city of La Puente for information about the shooting, no one has come forth, the prosecutor said.

The decision not to file murder charges, seconded by Ferris’ supervisors, does not sit well with the detectives, nor with Guin’s family.

“This was an eye-opener for me,” said Sheriff’s Department Detective Michael Bumcrot. “Gang-type murders are hard enough to solve, but when you can identify everyone involved and still not get a filing, it’s pretty shocking.”

“I can hardly express the amount of anger with that,” said Guin’s son, David, 37. “It shouldn’t just be dropped. It makes no sense.”

Since Guin’s death, her husband, Marion, has moved into a senior citizens housing complex where he lives alone, his son said. The couple had planned to spend their retirement years together as carefree vagabonds, traveling in a recreational vehicle. They were packing to leave when June Guin was killed.

David Guin said he cleared out and cleaned the family home, but cannot bring himself to patch the bullet hole left behind by the fatal shooting the night of March 27.

It was about 11 p.m. when a white Chevrolet Camaro with four occupants screeched into the 300 block of Eldon Avenue in pursuit of a yellow Dodge Colt. It was another gang confrontation in a suburban neighborhood that has grown increasingly violent over the years.

Police know that two friends of the people in the Dodge fired about eight shots from the sidewalk at the Camaro. One bullet killed Jesus Calletano Rios, 17, of La Puente, a passenger in the Camaro. Another bullet pierced the wall of the Guins’ home 100 yards down the street and lodged in the back of June Guin’s head.

If they fired first, the occupants of the Dodge could be prosecuted for second-degree murder because they created a situation that led to the deaths of Guin and Rios, Ferris said. Those on the sidewalk could be prosecuted for first-degree murder, if they fired first.

But without witnesses, or evidence establishing who shot first, the district attorney is stymied, Ferris said.

Murder charges cannot be filed against all suspects because it would be an improper filing, the prosecutor said. Nor can one side be arbitrarily chosen for prosecution, he said. State law prohibits filing lesser charges, such as assault with a deadly weapon, he added.

“Sometimes you just have to wait . . . until somebody tells what happened, somebody reliable,” Ferris said.

Detectives, not satisfied with waiting, obtained search warrants two weeks ago and arrested Ralph Salas, 21, identified as one of the men on the sidewalk. Salas lives four houses from the Guin home. But after Ferris refused to file murder charges against Salas, work on the case stopped, Bumcrot said.

“Unless something else comes up, it’s on the back burner,” the detective said.

Salas remains in Los Angles County Jail for violation of probation on another conviction. Ferris said Salas’ arrest was an attempt to pressure the district attorney.

But Bumcrot said he, too, was being pressured--by his supervisors and the Guin family.

David Guin said family members telephoned authorities because they remain upset about the lack of progress in solving the slaying.

His mother refused to move out of the neighborhood despite repeated pleas from family members, David Guin said. She believed that neighbors would help keep the violence away and guard against assaults and break-ins. But, Guin said, “The people responsible for her death are the ones she felt would protect her.”