A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld a Los Angeles man’s conviction for a Halloween 2015 drive-by shooting in Bellflower that left a 17-year-old boy dead.
Jesus Chavez and co-defendant Brian Jesse Altamirez were convicted of first-degree murder for the Oct. 31, 2015, retaliation slaying of Sitani Siale’uvea.
The teen was standing in the 16100 block of Bellflower Boulevard, a busy commercial street, when Chavez fired on him from a vehicle. Siale’uvea was struck by multiple shotgun bullets and died at a hospital from a shot to his stomach.
Chavez had animosity toward the victim because of an earlier incident involving Siale’uvea’s girlfriend, according to Deputy District Attorney Steve Schreiner. The girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time, was in Chavez’s car and doing drugs, prompting Siale’uvea to bang on the windshield, urging her to stop. He damaged Chavez’ car and Chavez was determined to retaliate, the prosecutor told City News Service.
Chavez and Altamirez were both sentenced last year to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that the special circumstance allegation of shooting from a vehicle with an intent to kill is unconstitutional because it does not narrow the class of defendants eligible for special circumstance treatment.
“… The fact that the elements of murder by shooting from a vehicle and the shooting-from-a-vehicle special circumstance are identical, in the context of this case, is of no moment,” the ruling reads. “As Chavez acknowledges, both the United States and California Supreme Courts have held that it is not unconstitutional for a special circumstance to duplicate elements of a conviction offense.”
Altamirez’s appeal is still pending.