Armando Yepez
A Santa Maria gang member who has denied killing a teenager and wounding another during a drive-by shooting in Oceano, talked about the day of the murder with a friend who was wearing a wire. [SantaMariaTimes]
During a preliminary hearing on Monday, prosecutors spoke of an unnamed man who says he was in the car when Armando Yepez, 21, committed the random shooting last November. Yepez friend later agreed to wear a wire.
Yepez faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the murder of 17-year-old Gabriel Salgado, an Oceano resident with no gang ties, and a 14-year-old boy Yepes allegedly shot in the leg.
Throughout Monday’s hearing, prosecutors and a district attorney investigator detailed the day of the fatal shooting. Yepez, allegedly angry over an encounter with Nipomo gang members, shot randomly at a group of Oceano teenagers after failing to track down the Nipomo gang members.
The preliminary hearing in scheduled to continue today at San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
