Alleged assassin for Mexican Mafia spent birthday stalking victim, detective testifies
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Even on his birthday, Andrew Reyna couldn’t turn down an order from the Mexican Mafia.That’s according to a Long Beach Police Department detective who testified Wednesday about evidence that led authorities to charge Reyna and two others with the murder of Samuel Villalba.
Villalba, an Artesia native nicknamed “Negro,” was said to have been a made member of the Mexican Mafia, a prison syndicate that holds sway over many Latino gangs in Southern California.At the time of his death on Jan.
10, 2021, Villalba, 64, was living in a tent beneath a freeway overpass in Long Beach.Prosecutors allege Reyna was ordered to kill Villalba, who’d been marked for death after getting into a dispute with another Mexican Mafia member.
California The niece of Michael Torres — a deceased Mexican Mafia member known as ‘Mosca,’ who once controlled L.A.County’s jail — was sentenced to prison for killing her uncle’s romantic partner.
Her motive in the case remains a mystery.At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Det.Leticia Gamboa testified the message was relayed through David Oropeza, who like Reyna belonged to the Eastside Paramount gang.
Reyna’s lawyer, Theodore Batsakis, said his client denies killing Villalba but declined to comment further.Reyna and Oropeza have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Much of what authorities know about the homicide comes from Jairo Rodriguez Duque, who is also charged with Villalba’s murder.Rodriguez’s attorney, Scott Sanders, told The Times that Rodriguez may have described what led up to Villalba’s killing but he didn’t take part in it.
“I want to be absolutely clear,” Sanders told The Times.“Jairo Rodriguez never said he participated in this murder.
This is why we have trials, and we’re very much looking forward to proving Jairo Rodriguez did not do this murder.”Arrested in June, ...