3 Arrested in Killing of Movie Security Guard : Crime: The suspects are Santa Ana men. A police official called the killing of the Marine vet at his theater job ‘one of the most senseless killings I’ve ever seen.’

Three Santa Ana men were arrested in connection with the shooting death of an unarmed security guard last month in what one police official described Tuesday as “probably one of the most senseless killings I’ve ever seen.”

During a news conference, police identified the suspects as Jerry Lee Alonzo Jr., 19, the suspected gunman, and his alleged accomplices, Rafael Maldonado, 20, and Jessie Pena, 19.

Orange Police Lt. Timm Browne said that Alonzo, who has no previous criminal record, admitted his role in the slaying of Dagoberto R. Carrero, a 23-year-old former Marine and veteran of the Persian Gulf War who was on his last day as a security guard at Century City Centre Theatre when he was killed Feb. 19.

All three suspects, who were arrested Monday night, were being held in Orange County Jail without bail.

The break in the case came from an anonymous tip, Browne said.

“Based on what we have so far,” Browne said, “this gets down to a kid working himself into a rage, going home and getting a gun, and killing someone over nothing.”

Browne said that in his 24-year career, “this is probably one of the most senseless, heartless killings I’ve ever seen.”

Matt Bowen, Carrero’s brother-in-law and a family spokesman, said that Carrero was shot “over disrespect, instead of settling out behind the shed with fists like you used to.”

“His job was to keep the peace in the theater, and he did a good job of keeping the peace,” said Bowen, 29.

“I hope this guy goes to the gas chamber. He deserves everything he gets.”

Investigators believe the killing was a result of an incident at the Century City Centre Theatre involving Carrero and Alonzo a month before the shooting, in which “Alonzo had taken some offense,” Browne said.

A month later, on Feb. 19, Alonzo apparently watched as Carrero got involved in an incident involving six teen-agers who reportedly threatened the security guard when he asked them to leave the theater so a crew could clean up after a showing of a film at 7:15 p.m.

Alonzo pretended to side with Carrero in the dispute with the teen-agers. He then left the theater and went to Santa Ana to get a handgun, Browne said. He returned to the theater and shot Carrero, after which he paged the two other suspects and asked them to pick him up in the theater parking lot, Browne said.

The gun has not been recovered, he said.

Alonzo told investigators that Carrero “did not pay him respect,” according to Browne.

Initially, police had been seeking the six teen-agers with whom Carrero had argued, but that group was ruled out as suspects after investigators received a tip which led to Alonzo and his two friends, Browne said.

Because of fear of retribution, the informant has not claimed the $10,000 reward offered by Patrol One, Carrero’s employer, Browne said.

Carrero, a native of Puerto Rico, was buried on Saturday at a funeral attended by nearly 230 family members, friends and a Marine Corps honor guard, filling an Orange mortuary to capacity to say goodby to the former serviceman.

Carrero, who survived seven months of flying helicopter missions in the Persian Gulf, was chosen Marine of the Year in 1991 from among the 250 members of his Tustin-based helicopter squadron. Carrero was a junior aerial gunner instructor and a crew chief on a four-member CH-53 helicopter team.

Bowen said Carrero worked two eight-hour shifts a day to support his family and had planned to attend college.

“It was his last night working at the theater,” Bowen said sadly.

Carrero had been accepted into the Air National Guard, and was scheduled to fly to Texas on Thursday for a four-month training session, which Carrero hoped would help pay for college, Bowen said.

Carrero is survived by his 27-year-old wife, Nicole, and the couple’s 9-month-old daughter, Jeralyn. The couple had been married for 18 months.

Bowen said that his sister was “relieved” to learn of the arrest, but that the loss of her husband “hasn’t even hit her yet.”

Bowen said that as a Marine, Carrero learned to be prepared for any eventuality, so he carried enough life insurance that his wife “is OK for a while.”

A Patrol One official said that Nicole Carrero qualifies for the standard $115,000 workers’ compensation death benefit.

“We have great admiration for the Orange Police Department for being able to get these guys this fast,” said Bill Bancroft, the company’s owner.

Honorah Bowen, the 83-year-old grandmother of Nicole Carrero, said the family is relieved that the suspects are in custody, but she said that she is particularly concerned about her great-granddaughter, who will never get to know her father.

“I think what’s so sad is that dear little girl who’s missing him so much already,” she said. “What will the rest of her life be like?”

Matt Bowen praised Orange police for the swift arrests, but he said finding out the circumstances of the shooting has added to the family’s grief.

“It makes it worse,” he said. “To get killed over a token or because you dissed somebody, that’s ridiculous. It’s crazy. But we wanted the case resolved and we wanted to know the reason behind the killing.”