Mom Drives Kids To Park To Kill Rival Gang Member
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Trial Begins
As prosecutors tell it, Eva Daley was far from your average mom when she pulled her Chevy Tahoe up to a Long Beach alley last year and let her son and his teenage friends pile out.
Within minutes, the group had beaten and fatally stabbed a 13-year-old boy at a nearby park before rushing back to Daley's SUV, where she loaded them in and helped them escape, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.
As Daley's murder trial began in a downtown Long Beach courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan accused the 31-year-old mother of helping the boys carry out the attack as part of a feud involving her son's gang and a rival group.
But her defense attorney portrayed Daley as a struggling mother intent on doing the best she could for a troubled son. Daley never stabbed anyone and had no idea some of the teenagers involved in the attack were carrying weapons, attorney Javier Ramirez said.
"She's a mother of three trying to make it through everyday life," he told jurors during opening statements. "She got caught up because . . . one of her kids has gone bad."
Daley, wearing a green tweed jacket, conferred quietly with her attorney during her first day of the trial. Near her sat Heriberto Garcia, a slim 17-year-old with closely cropped hair whom prosecutors charged as an adult and accuse of wielding the knife in the attack.
Both defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, face life sentences if convicted.
Jose "Terco" Cano was stabbed nine times, once in the heart, Lonergan told jurors. Blood from Cano and Garcia was found in Daley's truck, he said.
A witness told jurors that he saw a group of young men run back to a Chevy Tahoe on the night of the killing as the driver shouted: "Let's go! Let's go! Come on! Come on!" He testified that one of the boys said: "We slashed him good."
Prosecutors allege that Cano was a member of the local LT -- or Latin Thugs -- gang and that Daley's son, Mauricio "Smiley" Rivera, was a member of a rival gang known as LMS -- Local Marijuana Smokers.
Five teenagers, including Daley's son, have admitted their role in the assault and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Their plea deals mean they can be incarcerated as juveniles up to the age of 25. A sixth juvenile has yet to enter a plea.
Lonergan told jurors that the events leading to Cano's slaying began in December 2006 when he assaulted Daley's son, stabbing him in the side.
Six months later, on June 25, 2007, a group of LT members threw roadside flares at Daley's apartment.
One of her son's friends, Juan Bautista, testified Wednesday that he received a phone call that night from Daley's son telling him that rival gang members had slapped his mother and disrespected her at her home.
Daley arrived in her white Tahoe and picked Bautista up along with more of her son's friends, he said. She drove them back to her apartment on Pine Avenue, just north of downtown Long Beach.
When a police helicopter hovered overhead, Daley and the group left, first stopping at a gas station and then pulling over when they saw Cano and others standing in front of a Laundromat, Bautista said.
She pulled over and the teenagers, then ages 13 to 17, got out and chased Cano, cornering him by 14th Street Park, Bautista testified. He said he saw Garcia stab the boy about three times.
In court, Lonergan played a recording of Bautista's interview with detectives last year in which he admitted the group had searched for LT members to fight and that some in the group had been armed with a bat and a knife.
But under cross-examination, Bautista gave conflicting testimony, agreeing at one point that he had not seen Garcia do the stabbing but assumed he had because his finger had been cut during the assault.
And he testified that he had no intention of killing anyone that evening and was upset when he learned Cano had been killed.
As prosecutors tell it, Eva Daley was far from your average mom when she pulled her Chevy Tahoe up to a Long Beach alley last year and let her son and his teenage friends pile out.
Within minutes, the group had beaten and fatally stabbed a 13-year-old boy at a nearby park before rushing back to Daley's SUV, where she loaded them in and helped them escape, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.
As Daley's murder trial began in a downtown Long Beach courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan accused the 31-year-old mother of helping the boys carry out the attack as part of a feud involving her son's gang and a rival group.
But her defense attorney portrayed Daley as a struggling mother intent on doing the best she could for a troubled son. Daley never stabbed anyone and had no idea some of the teenagers involved in the attack were carrying weapons, attorney Javier Ramirez said.
"She's a mother of three trying to make it through everyday life," he told jurors during opening statements. "She got caught up because . . . one of her kids has gone bad."
Daley, wearing a green tweed jacket, conferred quietly with her attorney during her first day of the trial. Near her sat Heriberto Garcia, a slim 17-year-old with closely cropped hair whom prosecutors charged as an adult and accuse of wielding the knife in the attack.
Both defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, face life sentences if convicted.
Jose "Terco" Cano was stabbed nine times, once in the heart, Lonergan told jurors. Blood from Cano and Garcia was found in Daley's truck, he said.
A witness told jurors that he saw a group of young men run back to a Chevy Tahoe on the night of the killing as the driver shouted: "Let's go! Let's go! Come on! Come on!" He testified that one of the boys said: "We slashed him good."
Prosecutors allege that Cano was a member of the local LT -- or Latin Thugs -- gang and that Daley's son, Mauricio "Smiley" Rivera, was a member of a rival gang known as LMS -- Local Marijuana Smokers.
Five teenagers, including Daley's son, have admitted their role in the assault and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Their plea deals mean they can be incarcerated as juveniles up to the age of 25. A sixth juvenile has yet to enter a plea.
Lonergan told jurors that the events leading to Cano's slaying began in December 2006 when he assaulted Daley's son, stabbing him in the side.
Six months later, on June 25, 2007, a group of LT members threw roadside flares at Daley's apartment.
One of her son's friends, Juan Bautista, testified Wednesday that he received a phone call that night from Daley's son telling him that rival gang members had slapped his mother and disrespected her at her home.
Daley arrived in her white Tahoe and picked Bautista up along with more of her son's friends, he said. She drove them back to her apartment on Pine Avenue, just north of downtown Long Beach.
When a police helicopter hovered overhead, Daley and the group left, first stopping at a gas station and then pulling over when they saw Cano and others standing in front of a Laundromat, Bautista said.
She pulled over and the teenagers, then ages 13 to 17, got out and chased Cano, cornering him by 14th Street Park, Bautista testified. He said he saw Garcia stab the boy about three times.
In court, Lonergan played a recording of Bautista's interview with detectives last year in which he admitted the group had searched for LT members to fight and that some in the group had been armed with a bat and a knife.
But under cross-examination, Bautista gave conflicting testimony, agreeing at one point that he had not seen Garcia do the stabbing but assumed he had because his finger had been cut during the assault.
And he testified that he had no intention of killing anyone that evening and was upset when he learned Cano had been killed.
convicted
A mother of three was convicted Monday of second-degree murder for driving a group of youths, including her son, to a Long Beach park, where a 13-year-old boy was stabbed to death in an apparent revenge attack in June 2007.
The Long Beach Superior Court jury that heard the case against Eva Daley, 31, also found true an allegation that the June 25, 2007, slaying of Jose Cano was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Just a few hours earlier, the same panel convicted Heriberto Garcia, now 17, guilty of second-degree murder for repeatedly stabbing the victim. The jury, which had begun deliberations last Thursday morning, also found true the gang allegation against Garcia, who was tried as an adult.
Daley and Garcia are each facing state prison terms of 15 years to life. Daley is set to be sentenced Nov. 4 by Judge Arthur Jean, while Garcia is due back on Oct. 28.
Five other youths, including Daley's son, previously admitted a manslaughter charge in juvenile court and were sent to the California Youth Authority, where they can be held until age 25. The case of another youth is still pending in juvenile court.
In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney John Lonergan told jurors that Daley knew something was going to happen that night.
"She had the knowledge of what they were going to do ... she was not an innocent mother who was just doing her son a favor," Lonergan said.
The deputy district attorney said Cano's slaying could have been in retaliation for either the stabbing of Daley's son about six months earlier -- allegedly by Cano -- or for an incident earlier the night Cano died, when gang members threw flares toward Daley's apartment complex.
"He was armed when he went to that location," the prosecutor said of Garcia. "He took that knife and stabbed not once, not twice ... nine times."
Garcia's attorney, Jack Fuller, told jurors that the prosecution had not proven premeditation and deliberation or intent to kill.
"Just the use of a knife doesn't prove intent to kill," Fuller said in his closing argument.
Daley's attorney, Javier Ramirez, argued that the evidence supported his client's contention that she didn't know what was going to occur when the youths, including her eldest son, Mauricio Rivera, piled out of her Chevrolet Tahoe.
Daley testified in her own defense last week, telling jurors that she was intending "to take them home safe" and didn't know what the youths were doing when they jumped out of her sport utility vehicle.
Daley denied being out to get revenge for her son's stabbing six months earlier and told jurors that she did not learn about the killing until the next day when she heard about it while attending a parenting class in which she had voluntarily enrolled.
Daley was arrested by Long Beach police four days after the killing. She has remained jailed since then.
A mother of three was convicted Monday of second-degree murder for driving a group of youths, including her son, to a Long Beach park, where a 13-year-old boy was stabbed to death in an apparent revenge attack in June 2007.
The Long Beach Superior Court jury that heard the case against Eva Daley, 31, also found true an allegation that the June 25, 2007, slaying of Jose Cano was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Just a few hours earlier, the same panel convicted Heriberto Garcia, now 17, guilty of second-degree murder for repeatedly stabbing the victim. The jury, which had begun deliberations last Thursday morning, also found true the gang allegation against Garcia, who was tried as an adult.
Daley and Garcia are each facing state prison terms of 15 years to life. Daley is set to be sentenced Nov. 4 by Judge Arthur Jean, while Garcia is due back on Oct. 28.
Five other youths, including Daley's son, previously admitted a manslaughter charge in juvenile court and were sent to the California Youth Authority, where they can be held until age 25. The case of another youth is still pending in juvenile court.
In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney John Lonergan told jurors that Daley knew something was going to happen that night.
"She had the knowledge of what they were going to do ... she was not an innocent mother who was just doing her son a favor," Lonergan said.
The deputy district attorney said Cano's slaying could have been in retaliation for either the stabbing of Daley's son about six months earlier -- allegedly by Cano -- or for an incident earlier the night Cano died, when gang members threw flares toward Daley's apartment complex.
"He was armed when he went to that location," the prosecutor said of Garcia. "He took that knife and stabbed not once, not twice ... nine times."
Garcia's attorney, Jack Fuller, told jurors that the prosecution had not proven premeditation and deliberation or intent to kill.
"Just the use of a knife doesn't prove intent to kill," Fuller said in his closing argument.
Daley's attorney, Javier Ramirez, argued that the evidence supported his client's contention that she didn't know what was going to occur when the youths, including her eldest son, Mauricio Rivera, piled out of her Chevrolet Tahoe.
Daley testified in her own defense last week, telling jurors that she was intending "to take them home safe" and didn't know what the youths were doing when they jumped out of her sport utility vehicle.
Daley denied being out to get revenge for her son's stabbing six months earlier and told jurors that she did not learn about the killing until the next day when she heard about it while attending a parenting class in which she had voluntarily enrolled.
Daley was arrested by Long Beach police four days after the killing. She has remained jailed since then.
Man...what is the world coming to? If I was about to leave the house to go fight somebody my mom would have slapped me upside the head and sent me to my room, lol. If I came home after a fight, they would bitch at me (if I won or lost), and that was it. Then again, kids around here back in those days weren't really killing each other like they are now, so they weren't really worried about a fist fight. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost...my folks understood that sometimes you have to fight, and whether you won or lost, you still had the opportunity to see tomorrow.
This is what that street shit does these days. My prayers go out to everybody whose lives were affected by this bullshit.
This is what that street shit does these days. My prayers go out to everybody whose lives were affected by this bullshit.
UPDATE
LONG BEACH -- An appeals court panel has reversed the murder conviction of a mother who drove her teenage son and some of his friends to a Long Beach park where a 13-year-old rival gang member was stabbed to death.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal panel ruled 2-1 on Monday that jurors in the case of 33-year-old Eva Daley were given an "impermissibly ambiguous" jury instruction during the 2008 trial.
Associate Justice Laurie D. Zelon wrote that the case records don't show that the jury based its verdict on a legally valid theory, so her conviction should be reversed.
Daley had been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2007 death of Jose Cano.
Prosecutors argued that Daley wanted revenge because Cano allegedly stabbed her son six months earlier.
During her trial, Daley portrayed herself as a struggling single mother of three who had little idea that her oldest son was in a gang.
She testified that she was driving her son's friends home on the evening of June 25, 2007, when they suddenly jumped out of her white Chevrolet Tahoe and carried out the assault.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan rejected her story, telling jurors that the attack on Jose Cano was planned in revenge for an incident hours earlier in which a group of youngsters from the victim's gang threw roadside flares at Daley's apartment.
Some of her son's friends who admitted attacking Cano testified during the trial that Daley picked them up that night and drove them to the area near 14th Street Park, where the assault took place.
A bystander who was walking his dog that evening also told the court that he heard a woman in the car shout to the other boys as they raced back from the attack, "Let's go! Let's go! Come on! Come on!"
Lonergan told jurors that blood from the victim and the assailant, who was also convicted of second-degree murder, were found inside Daley's vehicle.
LONG BEACH -- An appeals court panel has reversed the murder conviction of a mother who drove her teenage son and some of his friends to a Long Beach park where a 13-year-old rival gang member was stabbed to death.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal panel ruled 2-1 on Monday that jurors in the case of 33-year-old Eva Daley were given an "impermissibly ambiguous" jury instruction during the 2008 trial.
Associate Justice Laurie D. Zelon wrote that the case records don't show that the jury based its verdict on a legally valid theory, so her conviction should be reversed.
Daley had been convicted of second-degree murder for the 2007 death of Jose Cano.
Prosecutors argued that Daley wanted revenge because Cano allegedly stabbed her son six months earlier.
During her trial, Daley portrayed herself as a struggling single mother of three who had little idea that her oldest son was in a gang.
She testified that she was driving her son's friends home on the evening of June 25, 2007, when they suddenly jumped out of her white Chevrolet Tahoe and carried out the assault.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan rejected her story, telling jurors that the attack on Jose Cano was planned in revenge for an incident hours earlier in which a group of youngsters from the victim's gang threw roadside flares at Daley's apartment.
Some of her son's friends who admitted attacking Cano testified during the trial that Daley picked them up that night and drove them to the area near 14th Street Park, where the assault took place.
A bystander who was walking his dog that evening also told the court that he heard a woman in the car shout to the other boys as they raced back from the attack, "Let's go! Let's go! Come on! Come on!"
Lonergan told jurors that blood from the victim and the assailant, who was also convicted of second-degree murder, were found inside Daley's vehicle.
