• Facebook
  • Google Plus
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Header image

MyNewsLA.comLogo

Breaking news for greater Los Angeles and Orange County

Menu

Skip to content
  • Crime
  • Government
  • Business
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Hollywood
  • Life
  • OC
  • All EB Lanes of State Route 78 in Vista Shut Down After Serious of Crashes
  • Swastikas, Threatening Graffiti Discovered near School in Topanga
  • Tension Expected at Torrance Council Meeting over Year-old Police Shooting
  • Hiker From Irvine Missing at Mount Baldy
  • Man Charged with Illegal Exports to Iran to Plead Guilty in L.A.

Home » Crime » This Article

Arraignment Delayed for Reputed Gang Member Charged in USC Student’s Slaying

Posted by Contributing Editor on August 7, 2019 in Crime | 210 Views | Leave a response
Share this article:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Arraignment was postponed again Wednesday for a reputed gang member accused of killing a USC jazz student, who was the son of an Oakland city councilwoman, during an attempted robbery just blocks from campus.

Ivan Hernandez, 23, is charged with murder for the March 10 death of 21-year-old Victor McElhaney.

Hernandez was charged July 2 with one count each of murder and attempted second-degree robbery — the latter charge involving a friend who was with McElhaney. Hernandez appeared in court after being charged, but his arraignment was postponed. On Wednesday, it was postponed again until Sept. 9.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of murder during an attempted robbery and murder by an active participant in a criminal street gang, along with an allegation that he personally and intentionally discharged a handgun. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Hernandez, who was arrested June 28 by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.

Evidence and witness statements led detectives to believe that Hernandez was involved in the attack, Los Angeles police said in a statement.

Victor McElhaney was killed just after midnight March 10 near Maple Avenue and Adams Boulevard.

Authorities said the young man, who was a student at USC’s Thornton School of Music, was with a group of friends when they were approached by three or four men in their 20s during an attempted robbery that led to the shooting.

Like this story? Don’t miss any breaking news from MyNewsLA.com. Sign up here for your free newsletter.

 

McElhaney was the son of Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney. He was part of the USC jazz studies program with an interest in the relationship between music and social and political movements. He also mentored young musicians and taught at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.

Shortly after the killing, Lynette McElhaney said her son “believed that music could heal the world of violence and sickness and addiction.”

The young man’s shooting death marked the latest of several high-profile killings of students in apparent robberies or attempted robberies near USC’s campus in the past seven years.

Alberto Ochoa, the last of four defendants charged in the July 24, 2014, beating death of Xinran Ji, a USC graduate student from China, was sentenced in March to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Two others, Alejandra Guerrero and Andrew Garcia, had already been sentenced to life in prison without parole, while the getaway driver, Jonathan Del Carmen, was ordered to serve a 15-year-to-life state prison sentence.

Ji had been walking back to his apartment near campus after a study session when he was attacked, and managed to make it back to his apartment, where one of his roommates discovered the 24-year-old electrical engineering student’s body.

Two other USC graduate students from China — Ying Wu and Ming Qu — were shot to death during an April 2012 robbery as they sat in a car that was double-parked on a street near the USC campus. Javier Bolden and Bryan Barnes were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for their killings.

Arraignment Delayed for Reputed Gang Member Charged in USC Student’s Slaying was last modified: August 7th, 2019 by Contributing Editor

>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!

Follow us:
Facebooktwitterrss
Posted in Crime | Tagged arraignment, charged, delayed, Gang, member, Reputed, slaying, students

Related Posts

Missing imageMan Charged with Illegal Exports to Iran to Plead Guilty in L.A.→

Missing imageFairmount Man Charged With Murder in Wife’s Shotgun Slaying Near Home→

Missing imageTen Charged in Alleged San Diego Auto Insurance Fraud Scheme→

Missing imageArraignment Set for Man Charged in Fatal La Habra Hit-and-Run→

News from idealmedia.com

Advertisement

Get The Latest News by Email!

Sign up here for our free newsletters. We’ll send you the latest headlines every morning and every weekday afternoon.

 
FORECAST FOR LOS ANGELES
54°
Partly Cloudy
Feels like: 54°F
Wind: 1mph S
Humidity: 65%
Pressure: 30.22"Hg
UV index: 0
TueWedThu
69/51°F
68/52°F
71/55°F
Weather forecast Los Angeles, California ▸

Most Popular Today

  • Elder Abuse Suspect Collared by OC Sheriff’s K-9 After 9-Hr Standoff 1,200 views
  • 3 People Injured in Midnight Stabbings in Pico Rivera 900 views
  • Man Arrested in Connection with Fatal July Shooting in Pomona 900 views
  • 1 Person Dead, 2 in Critical Condition After El Monte Crash 900 views
  • Police Find Woman, 18, Missing Since January 2018 800 views

©2019 CalNews Inc.

Menu

  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service