Recently in Torres and Murillo Category

Ernesto Murillo took a gamble when he pleaded guilty in March to the shooting a year before that left a little boy with a bullet in his head. He doesn't know what sentence he'll get, but it could be life in prison.

He was scheduled to find out today, but the sentencing hearing was postponed until June 4.

Previously:

BREAKING NEWS: One dropped from Harbor Gateway shooting case

Harbor Gateway gang shooting

Prosecutors announced today that they were "unable to proceed" to trial against Ismael Torres for the shooting that left a young boy with a bullet in his brain. We have the full story up here at dailybreeze.com.

Previous Crime & Courts blog entries on the case are here.

During yesterday's preliminary hearing for two Latino men suspected of shooting at a black family as they drove through Harbor Gateway looking at cars for sale, the defense attorneys hit hard on the topic of whether or not the family engaged in any gang activity. There's always been this suspicion that one or more of the passengers were gang members, who maybe flashed their own gang signs or displayed a weapon. They all denied any such notion on the witness stand.

While Ernesto Murillo, a known East Side Torrance gang member, is the believed shooter - things are a little murkier for his co-defendant, Ismael Torres. Torres, who listened to the proceedings through a Spanish-language interpreter, is not known to law enforcement. He has no tattoos and doesn't dress the part of a gang banger. His mother was in court, and she wiped away tears in the hallway as her son was led back to the lock-up in shackles.

In the long run, it really doesn't matter - legally or morally - if the family were or are gang members. Certainly, 6-year-old Laverya Elzy and his two toddler cousins don't prowl the streets late at night looking to score crack, carjack or kill. No one deserves to be shot at, and those that pull the trigger over something as lame as "they were driving slowly in my territory" need to be prosecuted and locked up like the animlas they are.

 

The alleged gang member and his associate who are charged with shooting 6-year-old Lavareya Elzy in the Harbor Gateway last month were in court for arraignment today. Ernesto Murillo, 25, and Ismael Torres, 26, pleaded not guilty to nine felony counts each, including attempted murder. They will return to court April 28 to have a preliminary hearing scheduled. Lavareya, who has a bullet in his head, is reportedly doing better ... although it's still not clear what kind of damage the bullet caused.

Check out tomorrow's Daily Breeze or dailybreeze.com for the full story.

Two alleged gang members charged with shooting and critically wounding a 6-year-old boy and shooting at his family while they drove through the Harbor Gateway last month are scheduled to be arraigned later today at the Long Beach Courthouse. We'll tell you what happens, and try to get an update on Lavareya Elzy's condition.