Teen to Stand Trial on Robbery Charge Under ‘3-Strikes’ Law

The youngest person ever prosecuted in Ventura County under the state’s “three-strikes” law must stand trial on a robbery charge connected with a violent crime spree that left a Moorpark motorist dead, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Jose Duarte, 17, is charged with using a gun to rob a young man who was talking on a pay telephone outside a Somis market shortly after midnight Dec. 3.

Duarte and three other reputed Camarillo gang members are accused of going on a 30-minute crime spree that started with an attempted robbery of a Taco Bell and culminated with the apparently random shooting of Jesus Zamudo Manjarrez, 25.

In between, the four are accused of firing into a rival gang member’s home in Camarillo and robbing the man in Somis.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Brett A. Cox was the only witness to testify at Duarte’s preliminary hearing before Municipal Court Judge Rebecca S. Riley on Tuesday.

Cox said the young man was talking to his girlfriend on the telephone about 12:50 a.m. when he was approached by three youths dressed in dark, baggy clothing.

“As they approached, [Duarte] asked him what [gang] he was claiming,” Cox testified. “He said he wasn’t claiming any gang, and [Duarte] pulled a gun from his waistband and demanded money.”

When the man said he had no money, one of the three robbers grabbed his leather day planner and another said “Beavis, we are jacking you up.”

Cox said the young man was nicknamed “Beavis” when he served time in Juvenile Hall on an unspecified crime. Cox said the man recognized all three of his assailants as former Juvenile Hall residents and knew Arturo Contreras Jr. by name.

Contreras is charged with murder, robbery and firing into an occupied dwelling in connection with the crime spree. Investigators allege that Contreras was the driver of the car that carried the four “hard-core gang members.” He remains in Ventura County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Miguel Castro, 20, is also charged with Manjarrez’s slaying. Investigators believe Castro fired the shots that killed him. He also is in jail with a $250,000 bail. A 17-year-old boy has also been charged with robbing the man at the telephone in Somis. That youth and Duarte are in Juvenile Hall on $250,000 bail.

Prosecutors said they will ask that Duarte be sentenced to a minimum prison term of 25 years to life if convicted because they allege it will be his third serious felony conviction. Duarte served time in Juvenile Hall for a previous robbery conviction, as well as an attempted robbery conviction.

A judge earlier ruled that the teen should stand trial as an adult.