GUILTY CA - Cathy Kennedy, 55, fatally shot while driving, Escondido, 7 March 2017 *Arrests*

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-no-escondido-arrests-20170316-story.html

March 16, 2017

Two gang members have been arrested in the fatal shooting of an Escondido woman who was hit by gang gunfire last week as she drove home from church, police said Thursday.

The suspects — a 24-year-old man, accused of firing the gun, and a 16-year-old juvenile — were taken into custody Wednesday, Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter said at a news conference announcing the arrests. He didn’t name the pair, but said both are Escondido residents and U.S. citizens.
More arrests are pending, Carter said.

He said the March 7 shooting was an attempt to retaliate against rival gang members who had been tagging the Pepperwood Meadows apartment complex along East Grand Avenue between Rose Street and Midway Drive.

Instead, one of the bullets hit 55-year-old Cathy Kennedy as she drove eastbound along Grand about 9 p.m. not long after leaving a weekly bible study at the Church of St. Timothy where she was an active member. Kennedy was struck in the head and died at a hospital a short time later.




Cathy Kennedy on the left, and her daughter

heartbreaking

So sad. I have such fond memories of childhood, visiting relatives in Escondido. My elderly Aunt still lives there, in same house, and she complains about how bad things have gotten recently. It used to be an idyllic Southern Cali Beach town, but now is full of local gangs and petty crimes. :sigh:

https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2...driving-home-from-church-yields-murder-trial/

Dionicio Torrez Jr., 24, is charged with murder, attempted murder of rival gang members and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Vista Superior Court Judge K. Michael Kirkman found that enough evidence was presented to order the defendant to proceed to trial.

A 16-year-old boy was also arrested in the case and charged in Juvenile Court.

Click to expand...

Opening statements are scheduled Tuesday in the trial of a documented Escondido gang member accused of shooting at rivals but instead killing a passing motorist after she left a weekly Bible study at a local church.

Opening statements set in trial of gang member accused in death of woman leaving Escondido church

GUILTY

Escondido gang member convicted of killing woman headed home after church

A North County jury on Friday found an Escondido gang member guilty of murder in the 2017 shooting death of a woman driving home from church, rejecting an argument that a teenage neighbor was the gunman.

Dionico Torrez, Jr., 25, was also found guilty of attempted murder for firing at rival gang members — whom authorities said were the intended targets. Additionally, he was convicted of two counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle

He is expected to be sentenced Dec. 20 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A judge sentenced 25-year-old Dionicio Torrez Jr. to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Man sentenced in gang shooting that killed woman leaving church