Three Charged in Shooting Deaths of Two 15-Year-Old Boys

Three people are facing capital murder charges stemming from a May 13 gang-related shooting in South Los Angeles, in which two 15-year-old boys were killed and two other teens were wounded, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

Nancy Joanna De La Rocha, 27, and Edwin Federico Loza, 19, both of South Los Angeles, are scheduled to be arraigned today in a South Los Angeles courtroom on two counts each of murder and attempted murder. The two are charged along with Cristian Ivan Macias, 19, who previously pleaded not guilty in the slayings of Lamarrion Upchurch of Long Beach and Monyae Jackson of Los Angeles, along with the shootings of two other 15-year-old boys who were injured by the gunfire.

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder while the defendants were active members of a street gang who carried out the crime to further the gang's activities, along with an allegation that Loza personally and intentionally discharged a firearm. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against the three. Macias allegedly had a confrontation with a group of teenage boys on a public street that day. Deputy District Attorney Michael Michelena alleged that Mascias returned to the area a short time later with his co-defendants and found the teens walking in the 300 block of West Manchester Avenue near the Harbor (110) Freeway.

Loza allegedly opened fire from a vehicle, striking the four. Upchurch died that day of a gunshot wound to the back, while Jackson died of two days later as a result of a gunshot wound through the abdomen, according to records from the coroner's office. Macias was arrested June 14 by homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department, while De La Rocha was taken into custody Sept. 18 and Loza was arrested Nov. 14, jail records show. All three are being held without bail.