Two 20-year-old men were charged Thursday in the shooting death of a Lynwood resident in Torrance last weekend.
Freddie Moran, of Wilmington, and Cristian Contreras, of Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge stemming from the May 10 killing of Daniel Armendariz.
The charge includes allegations that Moran personally used a handgun, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Officers responded to a report of shots fired near Carson Street and Cabrillo Avenue about 10:15 p.m. Sunday and found the 44-year-old victim with a gunshot wound. He died at a hospital.
Detectives believe the defendants -- who were arrested Tuesday -- had a "verbal altercation'' with Armendariz -- the nature of which was not disclosed -- before shots were fired, according to a Torrance police statement.
The homicide was the second of the year in Torrance, Torrance Police Department Sgt. Alexander Martinez told City News Service.
The other was the death of a man during a fight outside the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library on Feb. 3, Martinez said.
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There were three homicides in Torrance in 2019, all shooting deaths of men during a fight at Gable House Bowl on Jan. 4, 2019, Martinez said.
