Hearing Postponed for Teen Murder Suspect

A court hearing was postponed Tuesday for a 17-year-old reputed gang member charged with murdering a Century High School soccer player who was shot in the head while driving to school last week.

Miguel Camarena, who is also charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle, appeared in Orange County Juvenile Court Tuesday for the first time since the shooting. The hearing, at which he was scheduled to enter his plea to the charges, was postponed until March 10.

The Feb. 26 attack on Jose Luis Lopez, also 17, was the eighth shooting near an Orange County campus since the start of the academic year.

Prosecutors were not present during Tuesday’s session, but Court Referee James Odriozola told Camarena that they will seek to try him in adult court, where the penalties are much harsher than in juvenile court.

Outside of court, Camarena’s mother, Maria Eva Camarena, declined to comment.

Police said Lopez was less than two blocks from his school in Santa Ana when Camarena fired a gun through the driver’s-side window. Lopez’s car veered off the road and slammed into a nearby pole. Lopez’s brother and cousin, who were also in the car, were not injured.

Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton said authorities believe that Camarena was seeking revenge after a dispute with Lopez’s younger brother, who was in the car.

Lopez’s friends and relatives described the victim as a popular student who earned B’s and shunned gangs.