Teen Admits to Slaying, Tustin Police Say

A 16-year-old has been charged with murder and robbery after he confessed to fatally shooting a Tustin man two years ago, police said Monday.

The teen, whose name was not released because of his age, was being held at the Fred C. Nelles School, a state youth authority facility in Whittier, when he told officials Jan. 24 that he had been involved in a 1993 Tustin murder, Police Sgt. Brent Zicarelli said.

In an interview with Tustin police, Zicarelli said, the youth admitted that he shot Enrique Arceo, 54, on Dec. 8, 1993.

“He gave us the whole nine yards,” Zicarelli said. “He just felt guilty and had to get it off his chest.”

Police said Arceo was shot several times in the upper body in the doorway of his apartment in the 15800 block of Pasadena Avenue. Police said Arceo’s pregnant wife witnessed the shooting.

“We had no leads in this case. There was absolutely nothing to go by,” Zicarelli said. “It is very unique that he gave us such descriptive information, specifics only the shooter would know.”

Before the teen’s statements last week, police said, the only information they had was that a stranger knocked on Arceo’s door about 1 a.m. seeking help because he was having car trouble.

Police said Arceo tried to close the door on the intruder, who pulled out a gun and fired several rounds. When the assailant saw Arceo’s wife in their living room, he fled, Zicarelli said.

“The suspect knew of Arceo and had the intention of robbing him. But they were not acquaintances,” Zicarelli said, declining to elaborate.

The victim’s 61-year-old brother, Luis, said Monday that he was relieved to hear of the arrest but was surprised by the age of the suspect.

“I expected an adult to be the responsible for such a crime,” said Luis Arceo from his Paramount home. “But I know that regardless of whether it was an adult or a teenager, that person has to pay for what he did.”

The youth, who admitted to being a Santa Ana gang member at the time of the shooting, also told authorities that he fled the scene and then fired a shot at a man who was getting out of a car at the Regency West Apartments several blocks away. Police are now looking for that man.

The boy is expected to be transferred to an Orange County detention facility in February.