4 Plead Not Guilty in Fatal Shooting of Girl, Fetus

Four reputed gang members pleaded not guilty in Van Nuys Municipal Court Tuesday to murder in the death of a 16-year-old girl and a 3-month-old fetus during a drive-by shooting in Panorama City last month.

After prosecutors made the unusual move of filing a murder charge in the death of a fetus, which was not yet viable outside the mother’s womb, attorneys in the case generally agree that the California Supreme Court will have to decide between two conflicting appeals court decisions.

“The question is: Is it a valid interpretation of the murder statute?” asked defense attorney Dror Toister, who is representing one of the four men.

“There’s obviously a fundamental question of when life begins,” said John Daley, another defense attorney in the case. “The basic question is: What is murder?”

The fetus killed in the May 15 shooting is estimated to have been between 12 and 16 weeks old. A 1977 ruling from one division of the California Court of Appeals said the fetus had to be viable--now considered to be at least 22 weeks old--for a murder to have occurred.

But in filing the murder charge, Deputy Dist. Atty. Franco A. Baratta cited a San Diego appeals court decision holding that a fetus only had to be embryonic, or about 7 to 8 weeks old.

The defendants are Brandon Reed, a 21-year-old Sun Valley man; Maurice Campbell, a 19-year-old Panorama City resident, and Anthony D. Rose, a 19-year-old man from North Hollywood. If convicted, they could receive the death penalty.

Neither Reed, Campbell nor Rose is suspected of being the actual gunman, Baratta said.

A fourth man, 20-year-old Ronald Ausborne, was charged this week with similar crimes. Police have said they are still searching for a fifth suspect.

Nikki Foley was gunned down while standing outside her Panorama City apartment in the 9300 block of Sylmar Avenue on May 15. Foley’s sister, Shaneka, and two friends, Jontue Fowler and Mona Moore, all 15, were wounded in the drive-by shooting.

Authorities said Moore was carrying the fetus, which died about 24 hours after Moore was shot. Police said the four girls were talking with members of a local gang when members of a North Hollywood-based gang opened fire in a drive-by shooting.

Reed is also charged with attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of robbery for using a shotgun against three men when a drug deal turned sour on June 15.

All four defendants in the case are being held without bail.