A 28-year-old man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a murder charge stemming from the death of a security guard whom authorities allege was intentionally struck by a vehicle outside a restaurant in Downey.
Hector Jonathan Aceves was initially charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon involving the alleged May 17 attack on Joseph Quintero outside Gloria’s Cocina Mexicana at 7401 Florence Ave., but the murder charge was added May 31 after the victim’s death, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Officers were sent to the location to investigate a report of an aggravated assault and found the 49-year-old victim suffering from a head wound, Downey Police Detective Tim Lau said last month.
Quintero “was alerted to a disturbance inside the restaurant involving the suspect and several females,” Lau said after the alleged attack.
“The victim escorted the suspect outside and asked him to leave. The victim and the suspect became engaged in a verbal altercation in the parking lot,” according to the detective.
The defendant then entered his vehicle and allegedly struck Quintero, Lau said.
Aceves turned himself in the next afternoon at the Downey Police Department, and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
Quintero died May 25 of his injuries, police said.
Aceves is due back in a Norwalk courtroom June 26 for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.