VENTURA : 2 Teen-Agers Charged in Fatal Shooting

Two 17-year-old suspected gang members were charged Monday in connection with the Oct. 1 murder of a Cabrillo Village resident.

The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of murder and shooting at an occupied dwelling in the death of Jose Guadalupe Gutierrez. The 37-year-old father of four was gunned down while standing outside a small building where he had led an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The youths were arrested last Thursday after a six-month investigation. One is a resident of Ventura and the other is from Santa Paula. The district attorney will ask that the youths be tried as adults.

In November, police arrested their first suspect in the case, 21-year-old Rudolfo Leo Martinez. He has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is scheduled to be sentenced April 28.

Authorities believe that only one of the 17-year-olds actually fired the bullet that killed Gutierrez. But they say both teen-agers, along with Martinez, were firing into Cabrillo Village, where rival gang members lived.

Gutierrez was an innocent victim of the gang violence and apparently did not know the gunmen, authorities said.