One of three men charged in a double murder case involving a March 2009 shooting in Long Beach pleaded no contest Monday to two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
Christopher Ellis, 31, entered his plea as trial was scheduled to begin in the March 1, 2009, shooting deaths of Austin Seng and Chamreun Kong, both 20-year-old Long Beach residents, and the attempted murder of a third man who was wounded in the attack.
Trial for his co-defendant, Robert Ramirez, 29, was postponed to Friday.
The criminal complaint included the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with gang and gun allegations. Ellis admitted to the gang allegations in his plea and is expected to be sentenced on June 25 to 21 years in prison.
A third man, Irineo Cabrera, 33, pleaded no contest April 23 to one count of voluntary manslaughter involving the death of Seng and admitted a gang allegation. He is also set to be sentenced June 25 and is facing 16 years in prison.
Charges against a fourth alleged gang member, 25-year-old Chase Strike, were dismissed on Feb. 28.
Seng, Kong and two friends, including Sovannkoma Tes, were targeted when they went to a florist shop in the 2000 block of Del Amo Boulevard to buy flowers to put on a friend’s grave, according to prosecutors,
In preliminary hearing testimony, Tes, who was also wounded in the shooting, said that he and Kong were in a gang and the defendants were from a rival group, but Seng and the other friend had no gang affiliation, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
Ellis and Strike allegedly confronted the men in front of the shop and shouted out their gang affiliations and then a fight erupted with Ramirez and Cabrera entering the fray. Ramirez allegedly pulled out a gun and fired on Seng, Kong and their friends.
Tes testified that he hid under a van to take cover after being grazed by a bullet. He recalled Ellis throwing the first punch in the fight and later yelling, “shoot, shoot them,” the newspaper reported.