Man admits guilt in boy's shooting
A Torrance gang member pleaded guilty Wednesday to shooting a 6-year-old boy as the child's family drove through a Harbor Gateway neighborhood last year, prosecutors said.
Ernesto Murillo, 26, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder, five counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle in connection with the April 29 shooting, said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan. Murillo also admitted to all gun and gang allegations.
Prosecutors said Laverya Elzy was shot in the head. Five adults and two other children in the vehicle were not hurt.
Murillo, a documented Eastside Torrance gang member, will be sentenced April 29 at Superior Court in Long Beach. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life plus 120 years in prison.
Last March, the victim's family drove to Harbor Gateway to buy a car. As the family drove past Murillo on 227th Street, he made a gang sign with his hand and opened fire on the SUV, prosecutors said. Murillo fired several rounds, striking the car twice.
One round shattered the vehicle's back windshield, striking Laverya.
-- Richard Winton