Esparza Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ To Killing 16-Year-Old

INDIO -A reputed Coachella gang member accused of gunning down a 16-year-old boy near the Coachella Boys and Girls Club pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge.

Angel Anthony Esparza, 25, is due back in court Jan. 11. He was arrested Thursday at a home in the 8000 block of Sunnyside Avenue in San Bernardino on suspicion of shooting of Angel Luna on Dec. 3.

Esparza’s 18-year-old girlfriend, Evia Mora, was arrested on suspicion of acting as an accessory after the fact to murder for allegedly trying to help Esparza evade arrest. The couple’s 6-week-old baby was taken into protective custody by Child Protective Services.

Mora pleaded not guilty today to the accessory charge. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dale R. Wells set Mora’s bail at $25,000 and ordered her to return to court on Jan. 8 for a felony settlement conference.

Investigators believe the victim left a continuation school near Eighth Street and Orchard Avenue, which is near the Boys and Girls Club in Coachella, just before 2:30 p.m. Dec. 3, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.

Witnesses said they had seen Luna walking with his bicycle on the sidewalk north of the club when he was approached by a man who matched Esparza’s description, said Detective Kenneth Patterson, who prepared the declaration.

“It appeared to witnesses that a verbal argument ensued. The verbal argument lasted seconds when the suspect began shooting Luna,” Patterson wrote, adding that witnesses heard between five or six shots.

Those witnesses identified the shooter as Esparza, who had been living nearby in a home in the 1400 block of Ninth Street, according to Patterson. The detective said that deputies went to the home, but Esparza was not there, prompting a widespread manhunt.

Esparza was released on parole for a weapons charge about six months ago. He is being held without bail at the Indio Jail.