OXNARD : Teen-Ager Charged in Fatal Shooting

A 16-year-old Oxnard boy has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a landlord in Port Hueneme on Dec. 1, the Ventura County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn said the youth, who has not been identified because of his age, also is charged with being the gunman in the slaying of Richard Schell, 55. In addition, the youth is charged with a “special circumstance” allegation that the slaying was committed during a robbery.

That allegation could result in a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole if the youth is tried as an adult and convicted, Glynn said. The boy will be arraigned today before Superior Court Judge Robert C. Bradley. A hearing then will be scheduled to determine whether the youth will be tried as an adult.

Three Oxnard men also have been charged in the case. Jose Luis Arreguin, 20, George Ignacio Pena, 23, and David Lee Soto, 19, are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 21. They are charged with murder and the special-circumstance allegation, and could face the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole if convicted. A fifth suspect, Jose Reyna, 27, of Oxnard has been charged with being an accessory to murder.

Schell, who owned four apartment buildings in Ventura County, had just collected rents and was counting money in his parked truck when robbers broke a window and shot him, investigators said.