GUILTY CA - Five people shot to death at Long Beach homeless camp, 1 Nov 2008

JoeFromLB

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http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_19769270

January 18, 2012

LONG BEACH - Two convicted felons and alleged members of a Watts street gang were charged Wednesday with the 2008 shooting deaths of five people, one of the worst mass killings in Long Beach history.

David Cruz Ponce, 31, of Lancaster, and Max Eliseo Rafael, 25, of Los Angeles, were each charged with five special circumstance murders in the case, said Deputy Los Angeles District Attorney Eric Harmon. The criminal complaint lists the special circumstance allegations of murder in the commission of kidnapping and murder of witnesses to a crime.

Ponce and Rafael, members of the Nuthood Watts criminal street gang, are accused of fatally shooting three men and two women at a homeless encampment near the Santa Fe on-ramp to the San Diego (405) Freeway on Nov. 1, 2008.
 
20120118__BW_PN19-ARRESTS_VIC+PC6J39B.JPG
 
From December 2013:

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013...death-penalty-in-homeless-encampment-murders/

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against one of two reputed gang members charged in the shooting deaths of five people at a Long Beach homeless encampment just over five years ago, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

David Cruz Ponce, 33, was charged in the Nov. 1, 2008 slayings of Hamid Shraifat, 41, of Signal Hill; Vanessa Malaepule, 34, of Carson; and Frederick Doyle Neumeier, 53, Katherine Verdun, 24, and Jose Lorenzo Villacana, 44, all of Long Beach. Death will not be sought for co-defendant Max Eliseo Rafael, 27, but he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole...

Ponce and Rafael were also accused of kidnapping Shraifat – who police say was forced at gunpoint to lead the assailants to the encampment where Villicana was living. The two suspects were also accused of conspiring to commit murder involving an alleged 2010 plot to retaliate over a fellow gang member’s killing.

Can't find anything more recent, or a trial date.
 
This sort of case doesn't draw much attention - but it should. If anyone here cares about violence done against one of the most vulnerable groups of people out there, this should matter. It just makes me sad. Thank you OG and JoeFromLB for bringing this case to light, though it saddens me to see 3 posts over 3 years.
 
All I could find on David Ponce is that he has a court date for July 10, 2015.

These death penalty cases can take years to come to trial here in California. Five to seven years is not uncommon. The system is swamped. Even if they are ultimately convicted and sentenced to death, they may wait thirty years to be executed. The whole thing is a farce.
 
Both suspects have another court date on July 8th. The wheels of justice grind ever so slowly in California. The trial could be several more years away. I'll check back from time to time on its progress.
 
Checking court records, another pre-trial conference is scheduled for November 10th for both defendants. Who knows when it will come to trial, though. These pre-trial hearings have been held for over two years now. I counted at least twenty so far.

I'll try to keep tabs on this case.
 
The photo of the victims I posted years ago is gone, so here's another one. It's important to remember them. Rest in peace.

(click on the photo for larger image)
HomelessVictimsLB.jpg
 

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