One Friday night four years ago, Fernando Rojo Jr., 26, was sharing a cooler of beer with friends outside his parents’ home in South Los Angeles when a white SUV pulled up in front of them.
“Where you from?” someone in the car called out. Rojo and his five friends, who weren’t in a gang, didn’t respond. Their silence was met with gunfire. A bullet tore through Rojo’s back, piercing his heart.
Two weeks ago, the man who prosecutors say was driving the SUV appeared in court for a hearing. Rudy Dominguez, an admitted member of the 18th Street gang, was charged with Rojo’s murder, the attempted murder of Rojo’s five friends and six counts of discharging a firearm from a vehicle. If convicted, Dominguez, 24, faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.