(AP Photo/ Kevin Chang, Pool)
Calif. Mom Who Drove Son To Gang Fight Convicted
Mon Oct 6, 2008
A mother was convicted of second-degree murder Monday for driving her teenage son and his friends to a fatal fight with a rival gang.
Eva Daley, 31, had been charged with first-degree murder but the jury opted for the lesser conviction after deliberating for more than two days. She faces 15 years to life in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 4.
Her co-defendant, Heriberto Garcia, was also convicted of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing 13-year-old Jose Cano near a Long Beach skate park in June 2007. Garcia, one of the passengers in Daley's vehicle, is 17 but was tried as an adult.
Five other teenagers, including Daley's son, admitted a manslaughter charge in juvenile court and could remain in state custody until age 25. The case of another youth is still pending in juvenile court.
Daley's defense attorney, Javier Ramirez, argued that Daley didn't know what was going to occur when the boys, including her eldest son, piled out of her vehicle at the park. Daley testified last week that she didn't know anyone was killed until she was arrested the next day.
Prosecutors said Cano's slaying could have been retaliation for the stabbing of Daley's son about six months earlier or for an incident earlier that night, when gang members threw flares toward at her apartment complex.
Deputy District Attorney John Lonergan said Garcia stabbed Cano nine times.
Garcia's attorney, Jack Fuller, told jurors that the prosecution had not proven premeditation and deliberation or intent to kill.
Garcia, who faces 15 years to life in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.
Earlier Story Of Interest...
Mom Pleads Not Guilty To Aiding Attack
Police Say She Knew Of Plan When She Drove Son, Friends To Skate Park
The Associated Press
July. 18, 2007
LONG BEACH, Calif. - A mother charged with driving her 14-year-old son and six other juveniles to a skate park so they could attack another teenager pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder.
Police said Eva Daley knew her son and the others planned to kill Jose Cano when she drove them to the park June 26. Cano, 13, died of stab wounds. Police said he had previously been involved in a dispute with the youths.
An angry confrontation between supporters of Daley, 30, and of the slain boy broke out in the hallway outside the courtroom shortly after she entered her plea.
As people screamed at one another, one of Daley’s supporters punched a television news cameraman.
Daley, who was ordered held on $1 million bail, blew a kiss to her family and friends as she left the courtroom. She is to return Aug. 22 for a pretrial hearing.
About a dozen friends and relatives of the victim were in court, including Cano’s mother and a cousin, Samantha Maradiaga, 24, who wore a T-shirt with his picture on it.
Maradiaga disputed reports that her cousin was a gang member, although she acknowledged some of his friends were. In his neighborhood, Maradiaga said, it is impossible to avoid gangs.
“He was a good boy, and he wouldn’t go out to hurt anybody,” she said, adding his attackers had tormented him and other neighborhood boys repeatedly.
If convicted, Daley faces 25 years to life in prison plus an additional 10 years for committing murder as part of gang activity, said Deputy District Attorney John Lonergan.
The seven youths who allegedly attacked Cano also are in custody. Authorities have declined to release their names because they are minors, but Lonergan said they range in age from 14 to 17.
All seven were charged with murder with the special circumstance of committing murder in the furtherance of a gang.
Lonergan said a hearing will take place soon to determine whether they should be tried as adults.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
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