Three men arrested this week in connection with a fatal shooting in Anaheim in September were released from jail without being charged, as prosecutors deemed that the killing was in apparent self-defense.
Larry Robert Douglass II, 19, of Artesia, Johnathan Michael Rowe, 19, of Santa Ana, and Zachary Jay Goemaat, 19, of Santa Ana, were booked on Wednesday on suspicion of the Sept. 29 fatal shooting of 36-year-old Julio Cesar Munoz of Placentia, Anaheim Police Sgt. Jeff Mundy said.
Munoz got into a conflict with the three men before he was shot. Prosecutors felt the three acted in self-defense, Mundy said.
Police were called the morning of Sept. 29 to a cul-de-sac in the 1200 block of North Sunshine Way when the man’s body was found near a trash bin enclosure, Mundy said. Investigators concluded Munoz was shot just after midnight during a “factory party,” which features gatherings in industrial areas, Mundy said.
Police said they spent the past four months interviewing dozens of witnesses, reviewing video footage and executing about 20 search warrants before linking the three men to the fatal shooting, Mundy said.
Douglass, though he was not charged with the killing, was charged with a count of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.