24 YEAR OLD NORTENO TRIES TO JUMP 15 YR. OLD SURENO...SURENO YOUNGSTER KILLS THE NORTENO AND THE NORTENOS ''HOMEBOY'' SNITCHES..NOW LETS SEE THE EASTCOCO FORUM TRY AND JUSTIFY THIS SNITCHIN.
Teen to be tried as adult in gang-related killing
By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Edgar Aguilar, 15, will be tried as an adult and face a murder charge in the stabbing of a Vallejo man last year, an incident that took place in broad daylight near the American Canyon Police Station.
On Tuesday, Napa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kroyer rejected Aguilar’s claims of self defense and held there was enough evidence to charge Aguilar with murder for the Oct. 1, 2007, stabbing of Manuel Macias, 24.
Aguilar’s attorney, Greg Galeste, argued his client was attacked by Macias, who is almost twice Aguilar’s size, and that Aguilar was only defending himself.
Napa County Deputy District Attorney Fred Gutierrez painted a much different picture, saying Aguilar is a violent gang member who killed Macias in a street fight.
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During the one-and-a-half day hearing, witnesses testified Aguilar and Macias were documented members of rival street gangs.
The homicide happened on Elliott Drive in American Canyon.
The day Macias was stabbed, Aguilar, who is a member of the Sureños street gang, and his 14-year-old friend were walking on Elliott Drive to the bus stop to go to Napa.
A car containing Macias, a member of the rival Norteño street gang, Jaime Sabater and driver Jesse Perez passed Aguilar, witnesses testified.
Macias yelled gang slurs at Aguilar and his friend. More gang slurs and signs were exchanged. The men in the car stopped and got out.
Macias took on Aguilar, while Perez and Sabater fought with his younger friend.
Macias received one stab wound to his heart. Perez, Sabater and Macias left in their car.
Perez called 911 and drove to a nearby service station to wait for an ambulance. Macias was taken to Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo, where he was pronounced dead.
On Monday, Sabater testified when Macias saw Aguilar and his friend, he yelled “Scraps” — a derogatory term for Sureños.
“The two guys yelled something like Southside” (referring to the Sureños gang), Sabater said. ‘Manny (Macias) told Jesse to pull the car over. Jesse and Manny got out of the car and started fighting with them. I got out a few seconds later to help Jesse. It all happened so fast. The fight didn’t take more than maybe a minute.”
Sabater testified Macias was holding his chest yelling, “I’m bleeding.”
“We got into the car and left. I was holding Manny’s chest and he was crying, ‘I don’t want to die.’ And then he couldn’t talk anymore.”
Sabater testified he did not see any weapon or Macias getting stabbed.
During an interview with officers on the day of the stabbing, Sabater identified Aguilar as the person who fought with Macias.
Mike Frey, an investigator with the Napa County District Attorney’s Office, testified he interviewed Macias’ younger brother, who said Macias had been a gang member since middle school. He said his brother was a “hot head, who always wanted to fight rival gang members,” Frey said. “He said he had distanced himself from his brother because of his violent behavior.”
Gutierrez called Gary James, who is a gang investigator with the Napa County District Attorney’s Office, to the stand.
James, who has more than two decades of investigating gang-related crimes, testified Macias’ death was the “classic confrontation between Sureño and Norteño gang members. The name calling, the flashing of gang signs leads to violent activity, which in this case, ended in a homicide,” James said.
In his closing statement, Galeste defended Aguilar’s actions.
“What was he supposed to do in this situation? The autopsy showed Manny (Macias) had cocaine and marijuana in his system. Was Edgar to allow a drugged-out, ex-con beat him up?” Galeste asked. “This guy is on felony adult probation for domestic violence.”
Galeste described Macias as 24 years old, 5-foot-10 and weighing 215 pounds. “Edgar is a 15 -year-old kid about 5-foot-5 and weighs 120 pounds. The victim outweighed him by about 80 to 90 pounds,” Galeste said. “You have a super-heavyweight beating up a featherweight. He had a right to defend himself.”
Galeste said Aguilar never showed the knife until he had been punched at least “five or six times in the face, neck and shoulder ... He used any means to ward off the intentional and unprovoked attack.”
Gutierrez disagreed.
“If he’s getting beat up, what about the lack of serious injuries? Mr. Aguilar had some scrapes and bruises. He is not some poor innocent guy. He is a known gang member. The fight started with the usual gang interchanges. He had his knife in his hand, and he wanted to kill someone,” Gutierrez said.
“This guy is a time bomb who has dreamed of stabbing people. He is not some innocent child. This was not self defense, it was the inevitable product of a gang confrontation.”
In addition to the murder charge, Kroyer also held Aguilar to answer to assault with a deadly weapon, street terrorism and several special allegations, including gang enhancements, which can add additional years to his prison sentence.
If found guilty, Aguilar is faces 25 years to life.
He is scheduled to be arraigned March 5.
Though he will be tried as an adult, because of his age he is being housed without bail in juvenile hall.
