VAN NUYS : Murder Trial Begins for Gang Member, 19

Prosecutors told a jury Tuesday that a Van Nuys gang member should be convicted of first-degree murder because he supplied the gun that a 14-year-old used to kill a man who chased them after they stole beer from a convenience store.

Jose M. Murillo, 19, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted in the murder of 24-year-old Christopher L. Brown on April 12, 1992.

Brown, who wanted to become a police officer, chased Murillo and two others after they ran out of the store with cases of beer, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels.

In opening statements to a Van Nuys Superior Court jury, Samuels said Murillo urged the juvenile gunman to shoot Brown after the victim caught up with them.

Murillo and two others had just allegedly stolen 12-packs of beer from a 7-Eleven store near the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and White Oak Avenue in Encino.

Defense attorney Irwin Pransky told the jury that “the three little thieves” who wanted beer from the store “never contemplated anyone would be harmed by that endeavor.”

Mirna Gomez, 16, of Panorama City testified she was one of the trio who went to the store to steal beer. While running from the store with the stolen beer, Gomez testified, she heard a gunshot but did not find out what had happened until later. “He said that he should have shot him in the head instead,” Gomez testified the defendant said.

In exchange for her testimony, prosecutors dropped murder charges against Gomez, who was allowed to plead guilty to a single charge of burglary.

The 14-year-old gunman was previously convicted in Juvenile Court and is now being held by the California Youth Authority.

A fourth man, Juan P. Hernandez, 20, of Reseda, is accused of being the getaway driver. He was also scheduled to go on trial Tuesday, but his case has been delayed.