Two charged in drive-by slaying
BY JASON KANDEL, Staff Writer
LA Daily News
Article Last Updated:09/12/2007 09:09:06 PM PDT

NORTH HILLS - Two gang members have been charged in a January drive-by killing that left a 17-year-old rival dead.

Edilberto Olivares, 19, of North Hollywood and Mardoqueo Guevara, 23, were being held at the Los Angeles County jail on murder charges in connection with the Jan. 31 slaying of Daniel Martinez.

Guevara was held without bail and has an immigration hold. Bail for Olivares was set at $1 million. Murder charges were filed Tuesday against the two, who are members of Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran gang with hundreds of members in Los Angeles.

Martinez, who police said was in a gang called Wicked Pot Smokers from Van Nuys, and a friend, whose name police withheld to protect his identity, were walking home from Albert Einstein Continuation School, near Nordhoff Street and Orion Avenue, when the suspects drove by in a Toyota Celica, exchanged gang challenges and opened fire, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Gene Parshall said.

Martinez, who was hit in the chest, was taken to a local hospital, where he died. The friend with Martinez was not hit. Police said they identified the suspects in the slaying after learning they were members of a North Hollywood gang, Parshall said. A weapon has not been recovered.

State prison records show that Guevara served two years for carrying a loaded firearm in 2005. Olivares was arrested Aug. 31 on suspicion of possession of a loaded firearm. He posted $65,000 bail and was released.

Police were still trying to identify who pulled the trigger.


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