VAN NUYS : Gang Member, 18, Convicted in Killing
A Panorama City man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder for retaliating against a rival gang member from Van Nuys in a drive-by shooting.
Filemon Arellano, 18, is expected to be sent to state prison for 30 years to life when he is sentenced April 12, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said.
Rene Martinez Avilez, 24, was fatally shot with a rifle as he stood at Vesper Avenue and Delano Street in Van Nuys on June 25, 1991.
The case remained unsolved for nearly a year until another member of Arellano’s gang told police that Arellano had admitted to the killing.
Defense attorney Leslie Warren argued that the informant fingered Arellano only in the hopes of being released early from juvenile detention camp, where he was being held. Warren also told jurors that a friend of Avilez and a witness to the shooting said Arellano was not the triggerman.
Samuels said the killing was in retaliation for a non-injury shooting committed by Avilez’s gang.
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