ALHAMBRA – Prosecutors continued their case Monday against a man charged in the 2005 death of a San Gabriel high school student.
Gabriel Guerrero is accused of aiding and abetting his brother, Daniel Guerrero, in the fatal shooting of Ryan Dasalla, a 17-year-old Gabrielino High School student, on Apr. 27, 2005 as retribution for a fight involving their younger brother, David.
Gabriel Guerrero faces life in prison, according to his attorney, Mark Shapiro.
“Prosecutors will argue that it was foreseeable that Daniel would pull out a gun and kill someone – which clearly is not the case if you just look at the basic fact pattern,” Shapiro said.
Prosecution and defense attorneys both acknowledge that Daniel Guerrero accidentally shot his brother, who was fighting with Dasalla, and then turned and shot the victim.
“The issue remains to be seen what Mr. Guerrero knew about prior to the incident and what his intention was,” said Shapiro. “It seems pretty clear that he was (just) intending to get in a fistfight.”
Deputy District Attorney Catherine Chon spent Monday questioning Gabriel Guerrero’s former girlfriend, Regina Zarate, on the day of the shooting.
Zarate testified that she was in the van that pulled up alongside two young men near the high school and watched as Gabriel Guerrero, his brother Daniel and a friend “approached the two guys” and that Gabriel and one of the young men started “wrestling, like fighting.”
Zarate, who admitted she was high on methamphetamine the day of the shooting, said she saw Daniel Guerrero holding a weapon – a “big gun” – for the first time “shortly after I seen Gabriel wrestling with the guy.”
Zarate said she had initially lied to detectives at Gabriel Guerrero’s behest, offering an alternate explanation as to how Gabriel Guerrero was shot.
Chon showed Zarate’s testimony to conflict in several instances with former statements she had given. Visibly sedated from anti-seizure medication, Zarate told the court she experienced memory loss as a result of a seizure disorder.
Gabriel Guerrero was 23 at the time of the shooting; Daniel was 19.
Listed among America’s Most Wanted fugitives, Daniel Guerrero is reportedly still at large.
Shapiro said the defense will likely present its case sometime this week.
Several of Dasalla’s friends and family members were present at the trial Monday, wearing green ribbons and shamrocks they said were in honor of the slain youth’s affinity for his Irish heritage.
Co-defendant Sarah Toledo is also standing trial in the case, but her attorney and the District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on her involvement.
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