More than three years after the killing of a 13-year-old Pasadena boy, murder charges are filed
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- A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in 2021 while he was playing video games at his Pasadena home.
- Prosecutors said they were able to identify the shooter and his getaway driver thanks to an enhanced surveillance video.
More than three years after a teenage boy was shot and killed in his Pasadena home, officials have charged two people in connection with his death.
Iran Moreno, 13, was playing video games in his bedroom on Nov. 20, 2021, when a stray bullet broke through his window and killed him. Police said at the time that they did not believe he was the shooter’s intended target.
The teen was struck in the 900 block of North Raymond Avenue on Saturday. Three to five shots were fired outside his bedroom and at least one bullet struck the boy, according to police.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced Friday that shooting suspect Muhammad Abdul-Malik, 38, and Teraeja Laquanna Flemmings, 31, who is accused of being the getaway driver, were charged with the murder of the Pasadena teen. Abdul-Malik faces an additional felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Both Abdul-Malik and Flemmings could face life in state prison if convicted as charged.
“The violence that took this young boy’s life is not only tragic, but also unacceptable and criminal,” Hochman said Friday in a statement about the charges.
“No family should ever have to endure the heartbreak of losing a child under such horrific circumstances,” he said. “While we cannot undo this tragedy, we will work tirelessly to ensure those responsible are held accountable.”
The district attorney’s office could not be reached immediately for additional comment.
A former Republican who rebranded as an independent, Nathan Hochman promised to ‘get politics out’ of the D.A.’s office, but his neutrality has raised eyebrows amid the immigration raids.
The case had its first break in June, when Pasadena police released to the public identifying information about the suspects obtained from recently enhanced surveillance video.
Pasadena Police Lt. Carlo Montiglio said the tools used to enhance the video “just became available.”
“As the technology has improved, it’s allowed us to proceed further with the case,” Montiglio said.
A week after the details from the surveillance video were released, Pasadena police also released to the public detailed sketches of the suspects that eventually led to their arrests, Montiglio said.
Abdul-Malik was arrested July 11 in Orlando, Fla., where he awaits extradition, and Flemmings was arrested July 16 in San Fernando. Her arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
While the true target of the shooting remains unknown, Montiglio said, “We don’t believe it to be gang-related in the sense of retaliation or trying to shoot at another person.”
Montiglio also said that although Abdul-Malik and Flemmings were presumed to be a couple at the time of the shooting, they are no longer believed to be together.
More than three years ago, 13-year-old Iran Moreno was playing video games in the bedroom of his Pasadena home when a bullet careened through the window and killed him.
In the days after Iran’s 2021 shooting death, Pasadena community members held a vigil in honor of victims of gun violence. Authorities also pledged to devote additional resources to combating what then-Deputy Chief Cheryl Moody called a “rash of shootings.”
“The threat of gun violence is a true danger, and the Pasadena Police Department is working diligently to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of those who intend to harm others,” Moody said at the time.
Times staff writers Summer Lin, Nathan Solis and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
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