PASADENA : 5 Indicted in Slaying of 3 Boys on Halloween

Five reputed Pasadena gang members were indicted Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court on murder charges stemming from the Halloween night slaying of three Pasadena boys.

Karl Holmes, 18, of Altadena; Lorenzo Newborn, 23, of Los Angeles; and Solomon Bowen, 19, Aurelius Bailey, 19, and Herbert McClain Jr. 25, all of Pasadena, were indicted on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy. They will be arraigned April 22.

The five are accused of ambushing and killing 13-year-old Edgar Evans and 14-year-olds Stephen Coats and Reggie Crawford, and of wounding three other boys. The boys were mistaken for rival gang members and shot as they walked home from a Halloween party, police said.

The indictments were returned Tuesday and unsealed Thursday. Testimony and evidence were received earlier by a Los Angeles County grand jury. The grand jury is commonly used in place of a preliminary hearing to safeguard witnesses, court officials said.

The handcuffed defendants attended a preliminary hearing Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court but did not enter pleas. Arraignment was set for April 22.

The slain boys and their friends who were wounded had no gang ties or known affiliation with their alleged attackers.

At the request of the defense, Judge Lance Ito barred photographers from taking pictures of the defendants at Thursday’s hearing. Edward Rucker, an attorney for Bailey, said it was imperative that the defendants not be photographed because identification is a “substantial issue” in the case.