This comes from the District Attorney’s office. What’s scary about this press release is how young these suspects are. Here’s an excerpt:
LONG BEACH Two teenage boys were charged as adults today in connection with a gang-related murder last summer.
Deputy District Attorney LaChandra Wilkerson of Hardcore Gang Division said Eric Antonio Benites, 15 (dob 09/29/92), and Jason Trejo, 14 (dob 09/26/93), are due to be arraigned this afternoon at Long Beach Superior Court, Department J.
Benites and Trejo are each charged in case No. NA077735 with one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a firearm with special allegations that the offense was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang and that the defendants were at least 14 years old at the time of the offense. Benites also is charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of possession of live ammunition by a minor.
Benites is accused of killing 16-year-old Florentino Rivera to avenge his younger brothers murder. Benites brother, Jose Cano, 13, was killed June 26, 2007 by rival gang members. Media reports allege that Benites turned on his brothers gang associates when they failed to retaliate following his murder.
The ‘shock’ has left me some time ago as far as these young bangers;they’ve been used by the gangs to pull the trigger for just that reason…too young to be prosecuted as adults. Maybe I’m getting numb or plain ole angry, but anyone who can take another’s life needs to know that they’ll pay the price! THEY KNOW EXACTLY what they are being asked to do and guess what… they ain’t sweet nor are they innocent…
I’m saddened that adults can be numb as Berta puts it. These children are a product of a society that no longer value’s children. The older gang members prey on these young kids to commit offenses to get so called status in the gang. But in this case it sounds like these children were growing up in a world that maybe we don’t understand so we are quick to judge. A child can only learn by his surroundings and if he is growing up in a house where there are older gang members this is a acceptable to them and children with follow these footsteps. I aslo see a child who was hurting at the loss of his brother. Death at any age is hard and to lose a sibling at such a young age and not knowing how to deal with it is hard. It is a known fact that children until the age of 18 do not have the maturity level that we obtain in our later years. This is very important in understanding why children do the things they do and do not understand what the full recourse will be. I’m not making excuses for these chlidren but I can even remember in my teenage years doing things and not fully understanding how much trouble I could get into. I think about these things now and think of how many times I could have been seriously hurt or in trouble , but at that time it did not even cross my mind. I think we need to rehabilitate these children and they can be rehabilitated. These children will be free one day and putting them in prison will be like putting them in college to earn their degree in crime. There is no such thing as rehabiltation in prison thats why these kids who put in there at a young age keep going back because they grow up in prison and thats all they know. I’m not saying these kids should not have to pay for what they have done , but they need to be counseled and treated as a child that needs to grieve the loss of his brother and to fully understand what he has done through the guidance of counslers who know how children think and techniques that work to help these kids to be ready for a long hard road through a legal system that is willing to throw our children away.
As a law abiding citizen, all I can say that WE ARE TIRED OF HEARING AND WATCHING ON TV NEWS ABOUT GANG VIOLENCE. I feel that the moment has come to take radical measures to eliminate the problem of gang activity forever. I think that the authorities should involve the National Guard, which along with local law agencies, should search all the homes of gang infested areas, identify gang members, put them in jail, confiscate their weapons, drugs, money, etc. We cannot afford to lose any more innocent lives on the hands of these assasins. It is obvious that nothing that has been done so far to fight gangs in LA, has not worked. LET’S PUT AN END TO THIS HORRIBLE PROBLEM.