2nd gang member convicted in death of 9-year-old girl in Anaheim sentenced to prison
More than five years after a confrontation between rival gang members led to a 9-year-old girl getting shot to death while playing in front of her family’s Anaheim home, the second of two men convicted of her killing was sentenced Friday to prison.
An Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced Alfredo Aquino to 55-years-to-life in state prison – 15 years less than the sentence previously handed down to co-defendant Ricardo Cruz.
Aquino drove the pair to rival gang turf, while Cruz fired the gunshots that killed Ximena Meza. Both men were convicted last year of second-degree murder with gang and firearm enhancements.
Family, friends and teachers described Ximena as a bright, enthusiastic and friendly young girl, whose death devastated them.
“From that day, everything changed for us,” her mother, Ivania Ortiz, told the judge through a Spanish-language interpreter. “She left a big empty space in our lives. You cannot get over the loss of a child. The pain never leaves you. You just learn to live with it.”
One of Ximena’s final actions, after being struck by gunfire but before dying in her father’s arms, was to help get her younger sister safely into the family’s home.
“The criminal justice system is woefully inadequate if our intent is to make whole for the loss of Ximena Meza,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett said. “There is no way anything I do can bring that precious girl back. I have never had a teacher write a letter and express thoughts. I have never heard from friend’s and family in such glowing words on the impact this young child had on her neighborhood, her family and friends.”
During the trial, Aquino testified that he was driving Cruz around rival gang territory while Cruz tagged graffiti. Aquino acknowledged that he knew Cruz was armed, but he denied that they planned to confront or kill anyone.
“He had no intent to kill or shoot anybody,” Attorney Ken Morrison, who represented Aquino, told the judge. “He did not arm the killer. He was not armed.”
The pair spotted rival gang members standing in the 2300 block of West Greenacre Avenue. Cruz got out of the vehicle, pulled out a handgun and opened fire at them, hitting Ximena instead.
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Moore acknowledged that Cruz, not Aquino, was the actual killer. But the prosecutor noted that by bringing Cruz into the neighborhood, Aquino still played a key role in Ximena’s death.
“Mr. Aquino wanted this lifestyle,” Moore said. “Did he want Ximena Meza to be killed? I don’t think so in the least. But his help, his emboldening Mr. Cruz, led to this result.”
Animosity between Cruz and Aquino boiled over the day the two were convicted, when Cruz lunged at Aquino in open court and the pair brawled on the floor before the fight was broken up.
Morrison raised the possibility during trial that the rival gang members were “aggressively” moving toward Cruz when the gunshots were fired.