SANTA ANA : Man Guilty in Death of Gunfire Bystander

An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder Wednesday for his role in a shootout last year in Orange that killed a 15-year-old bystander who was on his way to a church retreat.

A Superior Court jury deliberated about fours before finding Tu Anh Do guilty of first-degree murder, street terrorism and weapons charges in the Aug. 6, 1993, slaying of Lazaro Omar Acosta Jr. of Santa Ana.

Do was also convicted of gang involvement.

He faces a prison term of up to 26 years to life. Sentencing is scheduled for September.

Do is one of six people charged in the fatal shootout, which authorities said was sparked during a meeting between factions of a Garden Grove street gang.

Doi Ngoc Phung, 20, of Garden Grove, whom authorities identified as the shooter, was recently convicted of first-degree murder, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robin Park said.

Four other defendants still face trial or preliminary hearings.

Acosta, a sophomore at Century High School and a church choirboy, was sitting in his parents’ car that Friday evening at the Qwik Korner store parking lot on Garden Grove Boulevard when gunfire erupted along nearby Lewis Street, according to testimony.

One of about 10 bullets fired tore through the trunk of the car in which Acosta sat, striking him in the chest.

The boy’s parents had only been inside the store a few minutes to buy snacks for a weekend church retreat he was getting ready to attend.

Do was a passenger in one of three cars driving toward St. Callistus Catholic Church, where he and others were going to beat Phung and kick him out of the gang, according to police testimony at the trial. A gun battle ensued.

Under a complicated legal theory, Park said, all defendants, regardless of whether they fired a weapon, are liable for murder since they were acting in a way that could result in someone’s death.

Defense attorney Dennis McNerney had argued that the prosecutor didn’t prove Do did anything to cause the shooter to fire the fatal shot.