PANORAMA CITY : Man Gets 29 Years to Life in Slaying
A Panorama City gang member was sentenced to prison for 29 years to life for gunning down a rival gang member in a retaliation drive-by shooting at a Van Nuys intersection.
Superior Court Judge Michael J. Farrell sent Filemon Arellano, 18, to state prison, rejecting the defendant’s request that he be sentenced to the California Youth Authority.
After hearing all the evidence, Farrell said Arellano shot “an unsuspecting person walking across the street . . . and then ask(ed) other gang members to intimidate witnesses.”
Arellano was found guilty of first-degree murder on April 1, 1992, for shooting Rene Martinez Avilez, 24, at the intersection of Vesper Avenue and Delano Street. The case was solved only when another member of Arellano’s gang told authorities that Arellano had admitted the crime.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said Avilez was gunned down in retaliation for a shooting committed by his gang that produced no injuries.
Arellano, who was 16 at the time of the June 25, 1991, slaying, was ordered to stand trial as an adult.
After the sentencing, Farrell told Arellano that support from his family should give him strength. Half a dozen relatives of Arellano attended the sentencing.
“You can change your life and you can change in custody and you can help people while in custody,” Farrell said.
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