Second man, teen arrested in killing of 14-year-old Modesto High student
A second man and a 16-year-old boy have been arrested in connection with the allegedly gang-motivated killing of a 14-year-old girl in west Modesto the day after Christmas.
Maria Juarez was in a vehicle with an 18-year-old woman, 16-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl on Oak Street just after midnight when they reached a dead end on the west end of the street, according to Modesto Police.
The vehicle turned around and headed east, passing several males loitering in front of a home in the 400 block of Oak.
“As the victims’ vehicle drove by, three of the males shot at the victims’ vehicle,” according to a press release. “The victims’ vehicle crashed at the corner of S. Martin Luther King Drive and Oak Street as they tried to flee the area. The suspects continued firing their guns and shot the victim’s vehicle several more times after it had crashed.”
Everyone in the vehicle but the 11-year-old girl was hit. The 14-year-old girl died at the scene and the other two victims were taken by ambulance to a hospital. Both have since been released, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear.
Last week Modesto Police arrested 21-year-old Damon Lee Morrison, 24-year-old Angelo Keo and a 16-year-old juvenile male during their investigation of the murder. Keo was originally booked on suspicion of weapons charges and violating his parole but murder and attempted murder charges were added Monday, Bear said.
Morrison was formally charged by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office on Friday with murder, three counts of attempted murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. Keo has not yet been formally charged.
The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to inquiries by The Bee about whether the 16-year-old has been charged or if the office plans to seek his transfer to adult court to be tried as an adult.
Authorities say the shooting was associated with, and motivated by, gang activity involving members and associates of the Valley Boyz Crips criminal street gang. The victims were not associated with a gang, Bear said.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 11:29 AM.
