Suspect in Teen’s Death Pleads Not Guilty

A 21-year-old Norwalk man who is one of three suspects in the slaying of Yorba Linda teenager Chad MacDonald pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday in a Los Angeles municipal court, authorities said.

Michael L. Martinez was charged in the killing of MacDonald, 17, whose death raised questions about the use of juveniles as police informants and calls in Sacramento for laws banning the practice.

MacDonald was involved with illicit drugs and was a police informant when he disappeared from his home in March, a few days before his battered and strangled body was found in a South Los Angeles alley. On the same day, his 16-year-old girlfriend was found wandering in the Angeles National Forest. She had been raped and shot in the jaw, but survived. The pair had been spotted at a Norwalk house where MacDonald frequently bought drugs, authorities said.

Following the murder, the teenager’s family publicly criticized Brea Police Department officials, who authorized using MacDonald as an informant up until 10 days before his death. MacDonald had agreed to help police after he was arrested in January for possession of methamphetamine, police documents show.

Martinez and Florence L. Noriega, 28, of Norwalk were arrested several days after the slaying at a Las Vegas motel, where authorities found a handgun and rifle. Also arrested was Jose A. Ibarra, 19, also of Norwalk. He and Ibarra pleaded not guilty earlier this year.