3 Plead Innocent in Slaying at Apartment : Court: Two adults and a juvenile, all suspected gang members, are charged with murdering a Gardena man who was shot several times two weeks ago when he answered his doorbell.

Three suspected gang members have been charged with murder in the shooting of a Gardena man who was gunned down two weeks ago--apparently by mistake--when he answered the doorbell of his apartment.

John Madrona, 18, of Redondo Beach, and Jeremiah DeGuzman, 19, of Carson, pleaded not guilty at their arraignments this week in South Bay Municipal Court.

A 17-year-old Torrance boy has also been charged with murder and was arraigned in Juvenile Court and held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center.

Bail was set at $1 million for Madrona; DeGuzman, who faces charges in an unrelated incident, was held without bail.

Police theorize that gang members intended to attack rivals who lived next door to Tracy Takahashi, 30, but went to his apartment by mistake. Takahashi, a field chemist for an environmental cleanup company, was not a gang member, said Lt. Gary Cherry of the Gardena Police Department.

The assailants fired six or seven shots, hitting Takahashi once in the head and several times in the midsection. The gunmen then fled as Takahashi lay dying by the door, police said.

Investigators believe the gunmen were after the same man who was fired upon Oct. 19 in a drive-by shooting. No one was injured in that shooting, which occurred in the building next to Takahashi’s.

“A neighbor told us that he thought the shooting was intended for him and that (those involved) were Carson gang members,” Cherry said.

Gardena police, with the assistance of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, arrested the trio last week in Carson after an intensive search conducted by 133 Gardena officers and sheriff’s deputies.

Investigators searched 12 residences in Carson and found a .38-caliber handgun that they believe was used in the killing, Cherry said.

Gardena police are continuing the investigation, Cherry said, adding, “There is a potential for additional arrests.” He declined to say how many people might have been involved.

DeGuzman has also been charged in an unrelated case with making terrorist threats, conspiracy and threatening a witness. Those charges stem from a gang-related stabbing at a Carson birthday party three days before Takahashi’s slaying, according to deputies at the Carson sheriff’s station.

“This group is a very hostile, dangerous group,” Cherry said.