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Murder trial ordered
Friday, June 11, 2004 - LANCASTER -- A Lancaster ex-convict has been
ordered to stand trial on charges that he murdered a reputed gang member in
a slaying last year outside a Lancaster bar.
Juan Trinidad, 27, is accused in the April 2003 shooting of Robert
Esparza, 27, who had a drink in The Trap bar with two other men believed to
be gang members and was found fatally wounded in the parking lot moments
after the trio walked out the door.
Prosecutors have charged Trinidad with murder and conspiracy to commit
murder, saying the killing was "preplanned."
A second defendant, Joseph Hutchinson, is still being sought,
prosecutors said.
Trinidad, who state records show had been released from prison eight
days before Esparza was shot to death, also is charged with being a felon
with a firearm.
Trinidad has a prison record dating back to 1995, when he was sentenced
to one year and four months for a vehicle-theft conviction in the Los
Angeles area.
In 1997, he was convicted of attempted robbery in an Antelope Valley
case. He was convicted in March 2003 of vehicle theft but paroled the
following month, Department of Corrections records show.
Investigators said Esparza and two other men entered The Trap, in the
2800 block of East Avenue I, together just before 11:30 p.m. April 22,
2003.
The three sat there quietly drinking for about five minutes, then walked
outside into the parking lot, homicide investigators said.
Seconds after the men left the bar, people inside the bar heard several
gunshots, followed by the sound of vehicles speeding away.
Esparza was found bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound, officials
said.
Someone inside the bar called 911. Rescue crews rushed the man to
Antelope Valley Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
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Man slain outside bar
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