2 Men Face Murder Charges in Slaying of Spur Posse Member

A judge Thursday ordered two men to stand trial in the fatal shooting of a Lakewood High School “Spur Posse” member who gained national attention in 1993 through appearances on television talk shows.

Esteban Quiroz Jr., 22, of Riverside, is charged with murdering Christopher Albert, 21, during a Fourth of July melee in Huntington Beach. Roy Becerra, 22, of Corona, is charged as an accessory.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge Sarah Jones ordered the two to appear in Orange County Superior Court for arraignment July 31.

Albert, who was described as a fringe member of the high school-based “sex for points” group, was shot in the chest where crowds of youths had been burning furniture and throwing bricks and bottles at police cruisers.

Quiroz and Becerra were with four friends traveling in two cars when they were impeded by the crowds. According to reports, someone punched the driver’s side window of the first car, so Quiroz got out of the second car to assist and was outnumbered by the group that had surrounded the first car.

Attorneys for Quiroz, a construction worker, and Becerra, told reporters outside the court that the men were trying to defend themselves from a mob.