SAN BERNARDINO – The trial for the last remaining suspect in the “Dead Presidents” quadruple slaying of July 2000 began Tuesday with a crash course on gangs in the area.
Deputy District Attorney Denise Yoakum used her opening statements to tell the jury that she believes the defendant, Froylan “danger” Chiprez, was a gunman in a shooting that killed four men and wounded two others on July 9, 2000, in the driveway of a Vine Street duplex in San Bernardino.
Yoakum went on to say that the shooting happened because there were power struggles within the San Bernardino street gangs Little Counts and Seventh Street, cliques within the West Side Verdugo, which is controlled by a prison gang.
Those who died were: 33-year-old Johnny Agudo; his brother, Gilbert “Gibby” Agudo, 27; Anthony “Antdog” Luna, 23; and Luna’s cousin, Marcelino “Spooky” Luna, 19.
Armondo Villasenor and Michael Velarde were wounded.
Two of the victims were presidents of local street gangs, prompting some law enforcement circles to dub the case “Dead Presidents.”
“At the end of this case, you’re going to learn that being a gang member is not a lifestyle, it is a death style,” Yoakum said.
In the early morning of July 9, 2000, Chiprez and his crew got guns and bulletproof vests and went to the residence on Vine Street to remove fellow gang members from their positions of power, Yoakum said.
Chiprez, who has denied gang involvement and pleaded not guilty to the charges, shook his head in disagreement as Yoakum gave her account of what happened.
After plotting and planning, Chiprez and three others – Luis Mendoza, Lorenzo Arias and John Ramirez – opened fire on the victims, Yoakum said.
“They thought they killed the bosses. They thought they killed the rivals. They thought they killed the witnesses and there’s no one left to tell,” she said.
“They left and went to Mexico thinking they finished everything.”
But Villasenor and Velarde survived, Yoakum said.
Defense lawyer James Gass reserved his opening statements until later in the trial.
Authorities arrested Chiprez on June 21, 2011, in Tijuana. He was extradited to the U.S. in December.
Chiprez is charged with four counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and special circumstances for an intentional killing while being active in a street gang, according to court records.
Because Chiprez was extradited from Mexico, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty. Instead, he is facing life without the possibility of parole.
Two of the other defendants, Mendoza and Arias, have already gone to trial and were convicted. They were sentenced to the death penalty.
Ramirez, the fourth defendant, accepted a plea bargain before going to trial.
Several witnesses are expected to testify today inside San Bernardino Superior Court.
Contact Lori via email, by phone at 909-483-9378, or on Twitter @IEcourtsNow.
