UPDATED: West Valinda brothers charged with murder in beating death of neighbor


WEST VALINDA >> Prosecutors charged two West Valinda men with murder Thursday for the beating of their 44-year-old neighbor, a father of five, with a hammer and cement blocks earlier in the week, authorities said.
Doctors declared Luis Segura brain dead Wednesday afternoon from injuries suffered in the beating, which took place about 7 p.m. Monday in the 13400 block of Moccasin Street, said Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter.
Flavio Macias Jr. 28, and his brother Jonathan Macias, 23, were each charged with a count of murder in Pomona Superior Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said in a written statement.
Lt. David Coleman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said the motive in the attack remained unclear.
“This is tragic,” he said. “(Segura) was a hard working guy. He had five kids.”
Segura and the Macias brothers had been neighbors for at least 15 years, Coleman said.
The lieutenant described Segura’s relationship with his neighbors as “cordial” and said detectives were aware of no previous incidents of violence.
Segura apparently went outside to speak with the brothers before the attack, though it was unclear what they discussed or what prompted Monday’s beating, Coleman said. “We don’t know exactly what happened.”
The victim’s wife called 911 after she went looking for him and discovered the two suspects trying to load the severely injured man into his own van, Coleman said.
Deputies arrested the brothers with the use of tear gas and a sheriff’s K-9 following an eight-hour standoff at their home, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.
Flavio Macias carried out the attack while Jonathan Macias acted as a lookout, prosecutors said.
“The felony complaint includes a special allegation that Flavio Macias Jr. used deadly and dangerous weapons, hammer and blocks, during the commission of the crime,” Ardalani said. He has previous convictions for domestic violence in 2005, carrying a dirk or dagger in 2006 and drug possession in 2012.
Segura was pronounced brain dead at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center Wednesday afternoon, according to Winter and hospital spokeswoman Rosa Saca.
Though clinically dead, Segura remained on life-support Thursday so that his organs may be harvested for transplant.
An arraignment hearing scheduled Thursday for the Macias brothers was postponed to Sept. 23 in Pomona Superior Court, Ardalani said.

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