Los Angeles gang member gets 52 years to life in 2019 slaying of Gardena teen
A Los Angeles man convicted of shooting a 17-year-old boy in Gardena after mistaking him for a rival gang member was sentenced Wednesday, Aug. 2, to 52 years to life in state prison.
Marcos Medina, 24, kept his head straight ahead and appeared to roll his eyes after Judge Laura C. Ellison characterized the killing of David Amaro-Poblano in February 2019 as “cold-blooded,” in Torrance Superior Court.
Jurors convicted Medina in June of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Amaro-Poblano was an honor-roll student who loved playing soccer and was months away from graduating from Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale when he was gunned down by Medina near 146th Street and Halldale Avenue.
The teenager, his mother and his girlfriend had been running errands to prepare for his younger sister’s birthday party. He was standing on the sidewalk outside his aunt’s house as his mother delivered an invitation. His girlfriend stayed in the car.
That’s when Medina and a second suspect pulled up in a car, prosecutors said during trial. Medina got out of the car, took three steps and fired nine shots at Amaro-Poblano, striking him once in the back.
Amaro-Poblano attempted to run back to his mother’s car, but he collapsed. He died at a hospital.
“For me and for my kids, it’s so hard without him,” Amaro-Pablano’s mother, Idalia Poblano-Reyes said in court Wednesday. “We was a good kid, he didn’t go out to look for trouble…..I miss him a lot.”
During trial, Poblano-Reyes testified that her son had plans to go to Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, to remain close with his mom and his siblings.
Medina’s attorney, Daniel Melnick, argued for leniency in the sentencing and claimed that Medina was also family oriented. He pointed out that family members of Medina had showed up to court to support him throughout proceedings.
“He took a wrong turn here,” Melnick said.
However, Ellison disagreed and said Medina had chosen his family of gang members that night over his relatives.
She characterized the slaying as a cold-blooded killing of a young man who was at the wrong place at the wrong time and “all for the glory of his gang and that’s supported by the words he said in jail.
“He’s shown no remorse. No remorse whatsoever,” Ellison said.
Ellison pointed out previous convictions for weapons violations and that Medina was on parole at the time he committed the murder as reasons for imposing the lengthy sentence. She said he’d “be right back at it victimizing the public,” if he were to get out sooner and she wanted to “give him no time to do that.”
As Medina was led out of the courtroom Wednesday, he looked at his family members, said “Love you guys,” smiling toward them as he exited.
Medina declined to give a statement during the hearing.
Prosecutors during trial said Medina and the juvenile were out in Gardena that night to try to execute a rival gang member, but shot the first “young male Hispanic” they saw.
Amaro-Poblano was not connected with any gang, prosecutors said. Rather, he was in the process of applying for the Gardena Police Department’s Police Explorer Program.
Melnick, during closing arguments, said while Medina was a gang member, it didn’t mean he was responsible for the shooting. Melnick also pointed out that the lone eyewitness to the shooting gave police a description of the shooter that did not match Medina.
But prosecutors had a jailhouse recording in which Medina was heard providing details of the shooting and also told the cellmate he was there to shoot and other gang member was there for backup.
Medina would go on to brag about the killing by getting a tattoo on the left side of his left eye, which he displayed on social media.
“I don’t think (Medina) deserves to get out of jail,” Pablano-Reyes said in court. “My son didn’t deserve what happened to him.”