Orlin A. Campos-Cerna, 18, was arrested last year on suspicion of fatally shooting Jose S. Avila.
Orlin A. Campos-Cerna, 18, was arrested last year on suspicion of fatally shooting Jose S. Avila. Avila was killed while sitting in his car with Anthony Tirado, a few blocks off Fourth Plain Boulevard. Tirado was not injured. The state and the defense have different theories as to what led to the shooting, but agree that the heart of the conflict was gang affiliation.To help jurors understand a gang member’s mentality, Deputy Prosecutor Tony Golik put Henderson, who works exclusively on Hispanic gang crimes, on the witness stand.Henderson said Sureño members increased significantly in Los Angeles in the mid-1940s, creating a crime wave that funneled Hispanics into a prison system run by white gang members who preyed on Hispanics.The “Mexican Mafia” was created in response to protect its members, Henderson said. In the late 1960s, there was an influx of Hispanics from Northern California going to prison, and they were harassed by the Mexican Mafia, who looked down on the field workers, ...