The War on La Familia

"He said we were just in time because we were about to do a mission," Gonzalez testified.

Gonzalez was shocked. It was a Tuesday night — unusual timing for a drive-by shooting. But according to two gang members, Franco and Hernandez were highly ranked in the hierarchy of Familia Loca. They were "captains." They had the right to give orders. If Gonzalez and Perez refused, they'd be subject to violations. That could mean anything from a punch in the face to being beaten to death.

Gonzalez testified that Franco took them into a small bedroom to explain the mission. Franco told Perez to sneak up to the side of Carlos Moreno's house, crack a window and start shooting. Perez said that would take too much time. The two argued. Hernandez heard the raised voices and suggested they go to the front door instead. Perez was still hesitant.

According to Gonzalez, Hernandez grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. "You do it," Hernandez commanded.

Hernandez shoved the weapon — a single-barrel black shotgun with a sawed-off pistol grip — at him.

"The gun's too big," Gonzalez said. With his slight frame, he argued, it would have too much of a kick for him to get off clean shots.

"You're all a bunch of pussies," Hernandez said.

Perez and Gonzalez sat silently in the room for a few moments. Gonzalez said he told Perez he had the car keys. They could just leave. Gonzalez said Perez didn't want to risk violating his parole. But he didn't want to get a gang violation, either. The two went back out to the living room. Perez told Hernandez he would do it.

According to an account by Gonzalez, Hernandez took them on a dry run of the crime. Gonzalez drove while Hernandez showed them the route — just a few blocks down 14th Street, along Minnesota Avenue and through an alley near 17th and Armstrong. Hernandez pointed out the house with the gate. Moreno's pack of Newport cigarettes was still sitting on the ledge of the porch.

Gonzalez testified that when they got back, Franco sat at the dining-room table. He wore black gloves and was cleaning the shotgun. He wiped it down with "ointment" that he said would keep it from holding any fingerprints. Next to him was a box of shotgun shells with red tips. Franco gave Perez a pair of black gloves and the shotgun.

Perez threw the gun in the backseat of Gonzalez's car and covered it with a jacket. The two alleged leaders followed their soldiers out to the car. They wished them luck. All four exchanged handshakes, twisting their fingers into the FL gang sign.

As they drove the half-mile to the Morenos' home, Gonzalez said the two teenagers prayed. They asked God to make sure everything turned out OK. They prayed that they didn't hit the wrong person.

The account of what happened next comes from Gonzalez's and Cisneros' court testimony.

Gonzalez parked in an alley and turned off the car while Perez put on the gloves, pulled up the hood on his black sweatshirt and grabbed the gun from the backseat. He watched Perez as far as the corner. A few second later, he heard shots.

Bang. Pause. Bang. Pause. Bang. Pause. Bang. Pause.

He turned on the car and saw Perez running, the shotgun in his right hand. The back door on the driver's side was broken, so Perez threw the gun through the window and dashed around the back of the car. Perez was scared but excited as he jumped into the front seat.

"I can't believe I did it," he told Gonzalez.

As they drove back, Perez latched onto one image: the way the white curtains flew back from the narrow window in the door when the shots struck the house.

At Hernandez's house on 14th Street, the three gang members were waiting on the front porch, smoking a blunt. Cisneros said Perez and Gonzalez were excited when they pulled up.

"We got him," Perez told them as he got out of the car.

"Good job," Hernandez said. "You guys did a mission without fucking up."

They moved inside, and Hernandez slid the gun under a bed. Then they heard the sirens. First the police. Then the ambulance. They all knew what that meant.

"Man, you done shot somebody," Cisneros told Perez.