Three men were charged with murder on Wednesday, Nov. 26, for the shooting of a woman in Northridge in what prosecutors called an ambush attack, authorities said.
The Saturday morning, Nov. 22, confrontation left 22-year-old Maria De La Rosa, a Latin-music artist known as Delarosa, dead, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
The three men allegedly walked up to a parked car on Bryant Street near Tampa Avenue just before 1:25 a.m., demanded money and then opened fire, hitting all three people inside, DA’s officials said.
The other two people were critically injured.
“This was a ruthless and targeted attack that stole the life of a young woman and artist and inflicted profound lifelong trauma on her family and the two survivors,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
The suspects, who all live in Northridge, are:
- Francisco Otilio Gaytan, 27
- Benny LiconGomez, 27
- Eduardo Lopez, 21
All three also face two counts each of second-degree robbery, court records show.
Gayton was arrested on the day of the shooting, while LiconGomez was arrested the next day, officials said. An arrest warrant was obtained for Lopez, who was not in custody as of Wednesday morning.
The two captured defendants were in jail with a bail in excess of $2 million, the District Attorney’s Office said; when found, Lopez will have the same bail amount.
Lopez was released on bond on Nov. 4 on a felony case, court and inmate records show, charged with felon in possession of a firearm tied to an Oct. 29 occurrence.
They all face a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.