Three alleged gang members have been charged in the case of a 19-year-old Marine who was killed in September while visiting family and friends in South Los Angeles.
The three men–Oscar Aguilar, 26, Esau Rios, 28, and Ricky Valente, 18–had charges filed against them in connection with the marine's murder, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Aguilar and Rios are each facing one count of murder. Aguilar, who had previously been convicted in 2011 of criminal threats and in 2008 of assault with a deadly weapon, was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of dissuading a witness. Valente is being charged with one count of accessory after the fact because of his knowledge of the murder.
The marine, Carlos Segovia-Lopez, was on leave from Camp Pendleton visiting his girlfriend's house on the night of Sept. 16 when he noticed people trying to break into a vehicle, the Times reported.
Carlos Segovia-Lopez had just left his girlfriend's house in the 2100 block of West 31st Street in Jefferson Park about 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 when he saw people vandalizing or trying to break into a nearby vehicle, police said. Segovia-Lopez and the men "exchanged words" and Aguilar shot him, according to prosecutors.
Segovia-Lopez was found slumped inside his black Dodge Charger and taken to a hospital, where he remained until he was pronounced dead three days later.
The commander of Segovia-Lopez's battalion spoke about how selfless the fallen marine was at his funeral.
At a funeral held for Segovia-Lopez at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in early October, the commander of his training battalion told mourners about how selfless the man was.
During military training, Segovia-Lopez had to endure underwater drills where he was almost at the point of drowning, said Lt. Col. Kory Quinn.
"The way he got through it was by focusing on the other Marines," Quinn said at the funeral.
Segovia-Lopez was new to the Marines, joining the service only eight months ago. He was well known for his volunteer work, the Times noted, with groups such as Cloud 9, which helps homeless people and animals. He also led a youth group called Teen Project, which seeks to motivate high school students to finish school, and was a junior counselor for a mentorship program for youth in South Los Angeles, called USC Troy Camp.