Gang Member Convicted of Killing Baby

A 21-year-old gang member was convicted of first-degree murder Monday for the drive-by shooting death of a 10-month-old girl last year in Compton.

Jesse Michael Sosa of Long Beach sat impassively as a Compton Superior Court clerk read the guilty verdicts on one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

The jury deliberated for two days after a three-day trial. The jury found that the baby, Kylah Camara Witrago, was intentionally killed for racial reasons because of ethnic epithets yelled from the car just before the deadly shots rang out.

The mother of the victim, Deseree Witrago, 18, burst into tears as the verdict was read.

The shooting occurred April 29 in front of an apartment building. The infant was killed instantly, her aunt was shot in the leg, and a neighbor in the building was grazed by a bullet. Witrago’s mother, two male friends and numerous children on the street were not injured.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Burke presented evidence that linked three .22-caliber shell casings from the scene to nine casings found in a white Mustang that Sosa was driving the day of the shooting.

Public Defender William K. McAllister, who argued that his client was not at the scene of the shooting, plans to appeal. Sosa is scheduled to be sentenced April 24. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.