5 Held in Shooting Death of Teen

As stunned, grief-stricken relatives Friday mourned the death of Jesse Muro Jr., police said they had arrested five people in connection with the execution-style shooting of the 17-year-old near the Santa Ana Zoo.

“He was a good boy--good in school, good in athletics,” Muro’s uncle, Steve Andrade, said through tears at the site of the Thursday night shooting on West Main Street. Area residents left baskets of flowers, balloons and religious icons at the site in memory of Muro, who was fatally wounded as he and a 17-year-old pal walked to a neighborhood market.

“I’m going to miss him, the way he would call me up on the phone and say, ‘Hello, tio,’ ” said Andrade, 46, of Orange. “I’ll remember the good things.”

Muro, who died at a hospital shortly after the attack, “was a pretty squared-away young man,” said Lt. Mike Shanahan of the Tustin Police Department. “He was a student at Century High School. . . . He just happened to walk on the wrong street at the wrong time near the wrong people.”

Shanahan gave this account of the shooting, which followed an armed robbery in which the same five people are suspects:

Tustin resident Simon Cruz, 39, was robbed at gunpoint by three men in the courtyard of an apartment complex in the 16000 block of West Main Street. The three men took his wallet, which contained a small amount of cash, and crossed West Main Street to a Santa Ana Zoo parking lot, where a car was waiting for them.

When Muro and his friend approached on foot, the three men accosted the teens and demanded cash and jewelry. One of the men put a gun to Muro’s head as his friend handed over some inexpensive jewelry.

“Jesse Muro did not even have a wallet to take. That’s kind of the sad thing,” Shanahan said, noting that the two robberies netted a total of less than $30.

One of the men then shot Muro at least once in the back of the head, Shanahan said. Two women in the car drove out of the parking lot, picked up the three men and sped away.

Police were called at 8:51 p.m., and Muro was rushed to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he died shortly afterward.

Police said the five suspects drove to the Santa Ana home of one of the men and dropped him off. The other four rented a room at a motel on Katella Avenue in Stanton, where they drew the attention of sheriff’s deputies at 2 a.m. as they stood drinking in the parking lot.

“They’re out . . . having a party when the deputies encountered them,” Shanahan said.

Deputies questioning the four found the wallet of Cruz, the first robbery victim, and called Tustin police to see if Cruz had reported it missing. They learned then of Muro’s death and detained the four. Tustin police officers then arrested them in connection with the murder investigation.

Mathew Robert Miller and Eloy Aguilar Gonzalez, both 22, were taken to the Orange County Jail and were being held Friday on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. Amor Serrano and Laura Espinoza, both 18, were being held on suspicion of aiding and abetting in a robbery and murder.

Eduardo David Vargas, 22, was arrested at his home a few hours later. Police said they suspect that he was the gunman.

The five, all Santa Ana residents, will be arraigned Tuesday, Shanahan said.

At the memorial site Friday, Muro’s uncle said the apparent randomness of the crime haunts him.

“I just can’t understand--why him?” Andrade asked. “The people who are out there these days, all they have is guns. When I was growing up, we used to fight with our fists.”

Nearby, Muro’s sister Patty, 27, sobbed as she recalled her brother as a child and how he got his nickname: Gordo. The word is Spanish for “chubby”--and as a preteen he was plump, she explained through tears. “He was a big kid.”

Speaking Friday night from his Santa Ana home, Jesse Muro Sr., 46, said: “He was my only son, my junior. . . . He was a good boy. He liked music; he liked sports. I got him into Little League. . . . He got along with everybody. I don’t know why they killed him.”

Besides his father and sister Patty, Muro is survived by his mother, Sylvia Andrade of Buena Park, and sister Teresa Muro, 24.

A funeral Mass is set for Wednesday at St. Joseph’s Church in Santa Ana, with burial afterward at Santa Ana Cemetery.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Teen Shot and Killed in Tustin

A 17-year-old was shot and killed execution-style Thursday by a group of men who had just robbed an apartment complex, police

say.

1. Three men rob Simon Cruz, 39, at gunpoint at about 8:40 p.m.As the three cross the street to a waiting car, they see Jesse Muro Jr., 17, and a 17-year-old friend walking on Main Street.

2. The men turn back and rob and shoot Muro. The other boy is robbed but not shot.

3. The three are picked up by two 18-year-old girls in the car.

Source: Tustin Police Department

Graphics reporting by SEEMA MEHTA / Los Angeles Times