Gang Member Gets Death Penalty for Ex-Girlfriend’s Murder

A Parthenia Street gang member who killed his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend in retaliation for testifying against him in court on assault and kidnapping charges should die for his crimes, a jury has decided.

From a cell in jail where he awaited trial on charges of attacking the teen, Juan Manuel Lopez, 25, used the gang initiation of a friend to lure Melinda “Mindy” Carmody to their gang turf two years ago to be killed.

His younger brother Ricardo, then 17, emptied a gun into the girl as she tried to run away, then fired a final, fatal round into her head.

“The killing of a witness goes to the very heart of our judicial system and we cannot function if witnesses are being killed for their testimony, if witnesses are afraid to go to court,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Nantroup, who prosecuted the case. “I’m satisfied that this was the appropriate sentence.” Both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder earlier this week.

It took a jury less than 45 minutes of deliberation to recommend death for the elder Lopez Wednesday, Nantroup said.

Because he was a minor at the time, Ricardo Lopez was not eligible for the death penalty. The brothers will be sentenced at separate hearings next month.