Gang Member Sentenced to Life in Slaying of Murder Witness

A 19-year-old Pomona gang member was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years to life in state prison for killing a 14-year-old boy two years ago to keep the youngster from testifying in a gang-related murder trial.

Patrick Ignacio Contreras, who pleaded guilty June 27 to second-degree murder in the death of Eduardo Samaniego, will be eligible for parole in 15 years, defense attorney Steve Harmon said.

Contreras was 17 at the time of the killing but faced court proceedings as an adult. The sentencing hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court was “a very quiet ending to a tumultuous case,” Harmon said.

Samaniego’s death Aug. 17, 1992, resulted in extensive negative publicity for the Pomona Police Department and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office in Pomona.

Representatives of both departments reportedly had assured Samaniego, one of four witnesses to a November, 1991, gang murder, that he would not be in danger if he testified. But a gunman came to the home of the church-going Little League baseball player, took him to a nearby alley and shot him a week before the trial was to start.

The three other young witnesses summoned the courage to testify and helped convict Arthur Melendrez, 22, of Chino in March, 1993. Witnesses and informants later provided evidence linking Contreras to Samaniego’s murder.

Meanwhile, Samaniego family members, who moved away from Pomona in fear, are awaiting a trial date in a $15-million lawsuit they filed against Los Angeles County and the city of Pomona, said their attorney, Tim Hanigan.