LOS ANGELES, California – A 17-year-old boy is facing charges of murder and other counts in connection to a series of shootings that left four people dead in southeastern Los Angeles County. Alongside the teen, two other defendants were charged with additional killings, according to prosecutors.
The 17-year-old was charged in juvenile court with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in relation to the two-day killing spree that took place on February 11-12. The juvenile denied the criminal petition at a court appearance, equivalent to a not-guilty plea in adult court.
Gary Garcia Jr., 42, and Timberland Wayne McKneely, 20, were previously charged with the same counts for the shootings that resulted in the deaths of three men and a 14-year-old boy. They are scheduled to be arraigned on February 29 in a Norwalk courtroom on the charges, including special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and shooting from a motor vehicle causing death.
In addition, McKneely has been charged along with 18-year-old Joseivan Mendoza with the killings of two other men, aged 30 and 28, in Cudahy and an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County in November 2023. Details of those shootings were not immediately available.
Mendoza is also expected to be arraigned on February 29 and has not been linked to the February 11-12 killing spree.
“My heart remains with all the victims, their loved ones, and the communities who have been affected by this senseless violence,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “My office is fully committed to ensuring that justice is served to all individuals responsible for these heinous murders. I join with all Los Angeles County residents in expressing my gratitude for the hardworking members of law enforcement who continue to investigate these horrific murders.”
The four people who died in the two-day killing spree are believed to have been targeted randomly by the suspects.
Garcia, McKneely, and Mendoza could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged, according to Gascón. The murder charges include a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and shooting from a motor vehicle causing death.
The first shooting in the killing spree occurred around 11:30 p.m. February 11 in the 6500 block of Bear Avenue in Bell, resulting in the death of 24-year-old Kevin Parada. A 29-year-old man was also fired upon but was not injured, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Shortly after midnight, another fatal shooting occurred in the 1500 block of East Florence Avenue in the nearby unincorporated Florence-Firestone area. That victim, described as a 27-year-old Hispanic man, was not immediately identified.
Two boys were shot a short time later in the 5000 block of Live Oak Street near Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy. One of them, 14-year-old Javier Pedraza Jr. of Cudahy, was pronounced dead at the scene. The second boy, a 13-year-old, was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The fourth shooting occurred about 2:40 a.m. Monday in the 6300 block of Santa Fe Avenue in Huntington Park, near Gage Avenue, officials said. That man was not immediately identified but was known to be a local homeless man who was “simply walking down the street,” according to the Huntington Park Police Department Chief Cosme Lozano.
According to LASD’s Homicide Bureau Capt. Andrew Meyer, sheriff’s homicide investigators responded to all four shooting scenes, and surveillance video quickly determined that a Honda Pilot SUV was at each location around the time of the attacks.
Sheriff’s officials circulated a law enforcement bulletin, and the vehicle was spotted and stopped by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies, with one suspect believed to be Garcia being arrested and booked on suspicion of murder, Meyer said.
Investigators were then able to identify the second suspect, who was arrested by a sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau team on the morning of February 13 in Compton, according to Meyer.
The juvenile suspect was arrested on February 15, according to sheriff’s officials. Meyer said investigators believe the suspects are gang members, but there was no immediate word on a motive for the killings.