Informant’s Kin to File Claim Against Police

The attorney for the mother of a Yorba Linda teen slain after working as an informant for the Brea Police Department said Monday that filing a legal claim--a precursor to a civil lawsuit--is the only choice she has to learn the truth about her son’s death.

Through her attorney, Cindy MacDonald stressed that the impending claim is not motivated by a desire for money. Brea Police Chief William C. Lentini did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday.

“I have begged the Brea police to sit down and talk about what happened, but they refuse,” said attorney Lloyd Charton, who represents the family of victim Chad MacDonald, 17. ‘It appears that a search for the truth can only occur through formal discovery after the filing of a claim.”

The city of Brea will have 30 days to respond once the claim is filed. If the claim is denied, Charton said he will file suit against Brea police.

Charton’s comments, made at a press conference, followed the weekend arrest of Jose Alfredo Ibarra, the third suspect charged in the youth’s March slaying.

Ibarra, 19, of Norwalk, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Monday in Los Angeles. A preliminary hearing was set for May 5. He is being held without bail.

Two co-defendants, Michael Martinez, 21, and Florence Noriega, 28, both of Norwalk, were arrested March 7 in downtown Las Vegas in connection with the killing. They also have pleaded not guilty.

Charton said Ibarra’s arrest “allows the MacDonald family some peace of mind” that the suspects in the case “will face justice.”

MacDonald’s body was found in a South Los Angeles alley March 3, the same day his 16-year-old girlfriend was found in the Angeles National Forest after being raped and shot in the jaw. She survived.

Charton has said that Chad MacDonald’s work as an informant following an arrest on methamphetamine possession charges led to his death at the hands of drug dealers. Brea police have disputed those allegations, saying it was MacDonald’s involvement in drugs that led to his death.

“If he’d never worked as an informant, Chad would be alive today,” Charton said. “Maybe he would be in rehab, where his mother could have visited him, but he would be alive.

“This is about accountability,” Charton said. “The police have to admit that what they did was wrong and agree never to do it again.”