2 gang members convicted in 2016 killing of Marine on leave in South Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A jury has convicted two gang members in the killing of a 19-year-old Marine while he was home on leave in South Los Angeles in 2016.
Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovia Lopez was on leave on Sept. 16, 2016 when he saw two men tampering with vehicles on the street in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, authorities say. He confronted the two men and one then shot him in the head.
He died three days later at the hospital.
VIDEO: Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovia Lopez buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery in October 2016
A jury this week convicted Oscar Aguilar, 28, and Esau Rios, 31, of first-degree murder and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle. Aguilar also was convicted of one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Prosecutors say Aguilar pulled the trigger, acting at Rios' direction.
Aguilar faces a possible maximum sentence of 107 years to life in state prison and Rios faces 50 years to life.
The District Attorney's Office says a third man, Ricky Valente, 21, pleaded no contest to one count of accessory after the fact in June 2018. Valente is expected to be placed on three years of probation under the terms of a negotiated plea deal.
Officials say Aguilar and Rios are both gang members and Aguilar had a criminal record prior to the shooting. He was convicted as a juvenile of assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury in 2008 and of felony vandalism in 2008, criminal threats in 2011 and possession for transportation or sale of narcotics in 2015.
At the time of the shooting, friends and family said Segovia had for several years volunteered for a group that feeds the homeless. He became a Marine about six months before the shooting to serve the country he loves, his family said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was among the speakers at his funeral.
