{"id":295033,"date":"2010-02-08T21:07:36","date_gmt":"2010-02-09T02:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c630a53ef0128777aafef970c"},"modified":"2010-02-08T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T02:02:07","slug":"gang-member-convicted-in-slaying-of-boy-4-in-echo-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/295033","title":{"rendered":"Gang member convicted in slaying of boy, 4, in Echo Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

A parolee and documented gang member was convicted Monday of murder in the 2009 slaying of a 4-year-old boy in Echo Park, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Howard Astorga, 26, was convicted by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury of one count each of first degree murder and shooting at an unoccupied motor vehicle, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. \"Roberto<\/img><\/a><\/p>\n

Jurors also found that Astorga carried out the crime to benefit the Diamond Street gang, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

Roberto Lopez Jr<\/a>. died after he was struck in the chest Jan. 13 last year by a bullet that police said was intended for rival gang members in a passing car. Roberto, who was with his sister and cousins, was walking to a park when he was shot in the 1200 block of Court Street, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

The crime sparked outrage in the community, where a 9-year-old girl had been killed two years earlier by gang crossfire as she stood in the kitchen of her home.<\/p>\n

More than 500 people attended Roberto’s funera<\/a>l, where Cardinal Roger Mahony conducted a Mass in Spanish.<\/p>\n

According to a Times database, 60 homicides<\/a> have been reported within two miles of where Roberto died since January 2007.<\/p>\n

Astorga has three previous felony convictions in Los Angeles County, for grand theft in 2006, possession of a controlled substance for sale in 2005 and unlawful taking of a vehicle in 2002, the district attorney’s office said.<\/p>\n

He will be sentenced March 8.<\/p>\n

— Robert J. Lopez
<\/br>
<\/br>Photo: A photo of Roberto Lopez Jr. that was part of a memorial erected at the site where he was killed. Credit: Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times.<\/em><\/input><\/input><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A parolee and documented gang member was convicted Monday of murder in the 2009 slaying of a 4-year-old boy in Echo Park, authorities said. Howard Astorga, 26, was convicted by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury of one count each of first degree murder and shooting at an unoccupied motor vehicle, the Los Angeles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4622,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4622"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}