Killing Blamed on Gang Member

As they cruised down a neighborhood street three years ago, El Rio gang member Marcus Moralez pointed a small firearm at the back of 17-year-old Frank Miramontez’s head and without explanation pulled the trigger, an eyewitness testified Tuesday.

The witness, a former gang member now in a state witness-protection program, told jurors that Moralez fired without provocation and appeared “amped up” after the shooting, asking: “Do you think he’s dead?”

But a lawyer defending Moralez questioned whether the witness had concocted the story to implicate his client and avoid prosecution for the same crime.

Moralez, 22, is charged with murder, street terrorism and carrying a loaded firearm in connection with the fatal shooting two days before Christmas 1999. He has pleaded not guilty.

Attorney Willard Wiksell told jurors in opening statements this week that his client was not present when the shooting occurred and will take the stand in his own defense.

Prosecutor Susan Aramesh told jurors she would prove Moralez shot Miramontez to elevate his status in the El Rio gang, which has wreaked havoc in the small working-class community north of Oxnard.

On Tuesday, Aramesh called two former gang members, Louie Gutierrez and George Navarro, who were in the car when the shooting occurred.

Both men testified they knew Miramontez, a Rio Mesa High School football player, and had asked him for a ride on the afternoon of Dec. 23, 1999. Gutierrez said they were on winter break from school and hanging out with Moralez, an older gang member, and eager to cruise around to meet some girls.

Miramontez, who was not a gang member, agreed to take them for a drive after they offered him gas money.

The four then-teenagers cruised around for a while and at some point Moralez produced a six-pack of beer, which Miramontez told them not to drink in his car, the witness said. A short time later Miramontez told the teens he needed to go home.

“He didn’t look too happy,” Gutierrez said. “You could tell that he was uncomfortable. He wanted to go.”

Not long after, Moralez gave Miramontez driving directions, which the athlete ignored, Gutierrez said. After that, he testified, Moralez produced a small handgun and fired from the back seat of the car.

Navarro offered a similar story, though he did not identify Moralez as the shooter. He testified the shots came from the back seat, and that because he was in the front passenger seat, he did not see who was holding the weapon.

Both Navarro and Gutierrez described clamoring to get out of the car and running from the scene as sirens began to wail.

Under questioning from Moralez’s lawyer, both men acknowledged that they got gang tattoos after the shooting and were at one time considered suspects. Both admitted they either lied or withheld information from detectives, and have since been paid cash for assisting law enforcement.

Gutierrez, who faced criminal contempt charges for previously refusing to testify at a court hearing, signed an agreement to testify in exchange for charges against him being dismissed.

He also testified that he has received about $4,000 to relocate himself and his family and fears retaliation from gang members. Navarro also received witness-relocation funds, but told jurors the money stopped last month because of state budget cuts.