DA seeks to try teen as adult in triple Westfield Valley Fair mall shooting
DA to announce charges in triple Westfield Valley Fair mall shooting
DA to announce charges in triple Westfield Valley Fair mall shooting.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they are seeking to try a 17-year-old boy accused in a Black Friday triple shooting at the Westfield Valley Fair mall as an adult, and charges against three other people who they say acted as accessories after the fact.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said before the hearing that he is also charging the teen with attempted murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm for alleging shooting and injuring three people at the mall.
Rosen said that the teen fired six times, striking a perceived 28-year-old gang rival standing outside a clothing store in the chest and hitting two young women who were at the mall shopping. All survived.
Rosen added that a judge will ultimately decide whether he can be tried as an adult.
"We don't believe the juvenile can be rehabilitated, meaningfully, realistically in a couple of years," Rosen said outside juvenile court, citing that the teen also had been involved in "previous activities," which would come out in the coming weeks.
"When you are 17 years old and take a loaded gun into a shopping mall and spray it and you come within inches of multiple people," Rosen said, well, those are other factors leading to his decision to try the teen as adult.
If the teen remained in juvenile court, he would face at most five years in a secure facility, Rosen said. If he is convicted in adult court, he could get 15 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Prosecutors also charged Allana Neveah Murillo, 21, as an accessory after the fact, who they said was pushing a stroller that helped the 17-year-old suspect get away.
They also charge Murillo's boyfriend – who is the alleged gunman's brother – and his friend, who prosecutors allege harbored the 17-year-old after the fact.
The teen was arrested two days after the shooting.
Because the suspect is a minor, authorities cannot release his name.
Police say the teenager, described as a suspected gang member, entered the mall with Murillo before confronting members of a rival group. He allegedly opened fire, striking his intended target. In addition, a teenage girl and an adult woman were injured in the crossfire but are expected to recover.
Investigators said the teen had prior contact with the department’s gang unit. In February, officers said he fled while carrying a loaded gun, but he was placed in a deferred judgment and probation program under Proposition 57, the state’s juvenile justice reform measure.
San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph criticized the limitations of current laws, saying violent offenses involving guns should not be treated the same as nonviolent property crimes.
"I’m not sure what it will take for well-intended lawmakers to wake up and realize that gun violence should never be lumped in with nonviolent property crimes in California’s efforts to reform our system," Joseph said.
The chief also noted a separate case involving a 13-year-old charged with fatally stabbing another teen at nearby Santana Row. Under California law, anyone under 14 cannot be tried as an adult.