Three men charged in the killing of a former Garfield High School football player in East Los Angeles pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder.
Jonathan Joseph Gonzalez, 28, Roque Solis, 30, and Anthony Aaron Gabriel, 25, all of Los Angeles, are charged in the May 25, 2013, death of Gabriel Soto.
The victim was gunned down while at a party inside an open garage with some former teammates in the 600 block of South McDonnell Avenue.
Gonzalez and Solis are both accused of opening fire on the victim, while the murder charge includes gang allegations against all three, who were arrested last December.
Gonzalez, Solis and Gabriel are also charged with one count of attempted murder involving another partygoer who was wounded, along with four counts of assault with a firearm.
Gonzalez is additionally charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Soto — who was a month shy of his 22nd birthday — had returned to California to visit family while on a break from Lincoln University in Missouri, which he was attending on a football scholarship. He was seeking an engineering degree.
Soto was a redshirt player on Lincoln University’s football roster the previous season and was going to be a defensive back for the upcoming season, according to the university.
Gonzalez, Solis and Gabriel are due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on April 21, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial.
The three could face potential maximum life prison terms if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
–City News Service