Cousin of Slain 13-Year-Old Boy Held in Juvenile Hall

When 13-year-old Antonio Gutierrez was shot to death in the motel room where his mother, sister and cousin slept in August, Los Angeles police detectives initially chalked up the killing as the latest in a string of gang shootings.

But investigators said Tuesday that Antonio’s killer was closer to home. The victim’s 16-year-old cousin arrived in Sylmar Juvenile Hall this week, charged with shooting his younger cousin to death, and then staying with Antonio’s mother and sister when the family moved to Las Vegas.

“Nothing surprises me anymore,” LAPD Det. Marshall White said. “Well, I shouldn’t say that, actually, because something always comes along.”

Gutierrez, his mother, Martha Trejo, his sister and cousin were living in one room of the Travel Inn in the 8500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in August, preparing to move to Las Vegas, White said.

On the night of Aug. 25, Antonio’s relatives said they were sleeping when a single gunshot rang out, and they awakened to see Antonio lying in his blood by an open window, White said. The youth died a few days later.

White said investigators initially thought that Antonio, a known gang member, had been shot by someone outside the motel as the teenager stood by the window. But months of pounding the pavement and looking for leads among gang sources yielded nothing.

Detectives then learned that Antonio and his elder cousin--whose name was not released because of his age--had been fighting. “They used to be real good friends, but they hadn’t been getting along as of late,” White said.

The reason for the cousins’ disagreement is unknown, White said.

Police tracked the cousin to Las Vegas, where he had been living with Trejo and her daughter. After the cousin--also a gang member, according to police--was arrested by Las Vegas police on a gun violation, prosecutors in Los Angeles filed a murder charge against him, and LAPD detectives had him flown to Juvenile Hall in Sylmar Monday night, White said.

White said Trejo and her daughter still insist they were asleep when Antonio was shot.