A perceived gang slight from a video may have sparked a shooting at a 2019 Halloween party, which killed three and injured nine, in the backyard of a Rose Park neighborhood home in Long Beach, according to court testimony Wednesday, March 17.
Seven men charged in the case, who have each been charged with three counts of murder and nine counts of attempted murder in relation to the shooting, sat and listened as three witnesses and two Long Beach detectives testified during a preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide if enough evidence exists to have the men stand trial.
They allegedly traveled in three SUVs from North Long Beach to the home, in the 2700 block of East Seventh Street, before three of them opened fire on a crowd in the backyard from an alley as they celebrated a birthday with a Halloween-themed party, police have said.
Police Chief Robert Luna said in September 2020 that the case was that of mistaken identity and the suspects, all alleged gang members, pre-planned the attack thinking rival gang members were at the party.
However, testimony presented Wednesday showed a connection between one of the party-goers and one of the defendants.
Timmy Ngoy, a co-worker of party host Daniel Chan, was picked up by one of the suspects, Jeremy Penh, at noon the day of the shooting, Ngoy testified Wednesday. The two had known each other for 12 years, he said, and that afternoon they went to a noodle house near Anaheim Street and Raymond Avenue.
While at lunch, Ngoy invited Penh to Chan’s party, but Penh declined and allegedly told Ngoy he didn’t like Chan because he saw a video where Chan was “disrespecting Jeremy’s gang,” Ngoy said without offering specifics. How Penh found the video was also not disclosed.
Penh later dropped Ngoy off at his home about 3 p.m., he said.
Ngoy, who also said he had associated with other members of Penh’s gang but was not a gang member, arrived at Chan’s house around 8:30 p.m. Most of the guests, many of whom worked with the two at the Hollywood Park Casino, arrived later around 10 p.m., Chan said.
About that time, Ngoy said Penh called him through Facebook.
“He told me to go inside,” Ngoy said. But when Ngoy asked why, Penh hung up.
Fearing something bad might happen, Ngoy told Chan about the call and the two got everyone inside while they stayed out and looked around for possible trouble.
But Penh called again and asked Ngoy why he told everyone to go inside, then hung up again without saying anything else, Ngoy said.
Seeing no threat, Chan’s father told him to let everyone come back outside after about 20 minutes, Chan said.
Shortly afterward, Ngoy and Chan both said they heard gunshots from the alley. Ngoy ran behind a shed, while Chan was in a blind spot to the side of the house with his father and a friend, he testified.
Twelve people were struck. The three fatal victims – Melvin Williams, 35, of Gardena; Ricardo Torres, 28, of Inglewood; and Maurice Poe Jr., 25, of Long Beach – were all struck in the head, according to Detective Mark Mattia as he looked through crime scene photos while testifying Wednesday.
The woman whose birthday was being celebrated was shot in the chest, but survived. Another woman was left paralyzed.
“It was chaotic,” Mattia said of arriving to the home an hour after the first 911 calls came in. Long Beach Fire Department personnel had set up two tarps to triage the victims depending on the severity of their injuries, he said.
Most of the bullet casings were found in the alley, but three were found just within the cinder block wall near the back of the backyard, he said.
Chan and Ngoy admitted in testimony that they initially lied to police about what preceded the shooting and they left out Ngoy’s connection to Penh. Ngoy admitted the connection on Sept. 3, 2020 after “investigators raided my house and had information on me that I had contact with Jeremy.”
The arrests were announced by police five days later.
Ngoy said he lied to police initially because he didn’t want to be involved in the investigation. Chan said he lied because he wanted to protect Ngoy, who was scared.
Deputy District Attorney Cyndi Barnes also presented video surveillance showing that, before the shooting, three vehicles met at an Arco gas station near the corner of Orange Avenue and South Street before traveling in tandem down Orange to Seventh Street.
Dashcam from a work truck captured the three SUVs make a left turn onto Ohio Avenue from Seventh Street. Vehicle registration information showed the three SUVs belonged to relatives of Penh who are charged in the case, 20-year-old David Heng Long of Long Beach and 41-year-old Joshua Sam of Paramount, Mattia said.
The other defendants include:
- Kaylin Thik, 21, of Long Beach
- Ryan Sim, 18, of Long Beach
- Christopher Williams, 29, of Redlands
- Grant Johnson, 36, of Orange.
However, no evidence had yet been presented identifying any of the suspects as alleged shooters or detailing the extent of any of their roles in the shooting. The hearing will continue in Long Beach Superior Court on Thursday, when the judge may make his ruling.
