Teen convicted in Aguirre’s death
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Gary Moskowitz
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge convicted a 19-year-old man
Thursday of voluntary manslaughter for his part in the killing of a
Hoover High School student four years ago.
Rafael Gevorgyan was convicted in the slaying of Raul Aguirre in
front of the high school. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 18
years in state prison. Gevorgyan is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 3.
Judge Michael Johnson, during the second day of Gevorgyan’s trial,
also found him guilty of using a crowbar to hit Aguirre and said
Gevorgyan’s actions were committed to benefit a street gang.
Gevorgyan had allegedly used the crowbar to hit Aguirre on the
head during a fight that broke out in front of Hoover High School May
5, 2000.
Aguirre was 17 when he tried to intervene in a gang fight between
a former co-worker and Terteryan and Gevorgyan, according to police.
Investigators have said Raul was not a gang member. Terteryan was
accused of stabbing Raul in the heart, and Gevorgyan was accused of
hitting him on the head with a crowbar.
Raul Aguirre’s mother, Leticia Aguirre, sat quietly next to her
daughter, Lorena Aguirre, as the judge handed down his verdict in the
downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
“We’ve waited four years for this,” Leticia Aguirre said in
Spanish, after the hearing. “But the judge was fair.”
Lorena Aguirre looked at her mother and smiled, saying they felt
relieved that the judge had finally made a decision.
“We are good. We’re happy,” Lorena said. “I think it should have
been murder, because [Gevorgyan] went that day with intentions, but
this is a weight off of us.”
Gevorgyan’s mother sat with her hand to her mouth as the judge
read his verdict. She was joined in court Thursday by several family
members and friends, including Anet Nersesyan, the teenage girl
Gevorgyan said he was going to Hoover High to meet and get CDs from
on the day of Aguirre’s death.
“We’ll see,” said Gevorgyan’s aunt, Olga Manedjian. “We still have
hope. We’re not happy with this.”
Andrew Flier, the attorney representing Gevorgyan, called the
verdict unfair, saying repeatedly throughout Thursday’s trial that
prosecutors failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that Aguirre
had died because of being hit by the crowbar, that Gevorgyan knew
Terteryan had a knife and that Gevorgyan had any gang ties.
“That was the worst verdict I’ve ever seen,” Flier said. “I’m
ecstatic that we won [on the] murder [charge], and the [district
attorney] lost that case. But the judge threw them a bone.”
Deputy Dist. Atty. Darrell Mavis said Thursday’s verdict was proof
of what he has been saying all along -- that Aguirre was a hero who
was wrongly killed.
On the day of his death, Aguirre tried to intervene when a fight
broke out while students were waiting for the bus on a Friday
afternoon after school let out.
“We are very happy that the judge agreed with us that [Gevorgyan]
killed Aguirre and that the gang connection, which we always said was
there, was there,” Mavis said. “It brings finality to a four-year
mission to hold both of them responsible for Aguirre’s death.”
In the men’s first trial, the jury was split between manslaughter
and second-degree murder charges, and a mistrial was declared.
A week ago, 21-year-old Karen Terteryan admitted in court that he
stabbed Aguirre in the gang-related attack that led to the teen’s
death.
After accepting the guilty plea, Johnson sentenced Terteryan to 23
years and eight months in state prison. Terteryan will not be
eligible for a parole hearing until he has served at least 85% of the
sentence.
A third defendant, Anait Msryan, 18, pleaded guilty last year to
attempted murder. Msryan, who was driving the car that Gevorgyan and
Terteryan were riding in the day of the incident, is serving a
seven-year sentence with the California Youth Authority.
With four years’ credit of prison time, Msryan will be out of jail
before she is 21. Msryan was 14 when Aguirre was slain -- the
youngest female in Glendale history to be charged with murder, police
said.