A member of the Gardena 13 street gang will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering a 29-year-old man in front of his home in November 2020, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ announced Friday that 24-year-old Justin Arteaga of Gardena, also known as “Hitta,” was sentenced after a 5-day trial found him guilty of one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder.
A report by the Los Angeles Times says Arteaga was a recruit of Gardena 13 at the time of the shooting, and that, according to prosecutors, Arteaga “wanted to prove that he was worthy,” that he “had been dying to become a member.”
On Nov. 13, 2020, Arteaga and two Gardena 13 gang members purportedly confronted the victim and his brother, who were seated in a parked car in front of their home.
According to a release by the DOJ, “Following the victim’s perceived disrespect of Gardena 13 and the three assailants, all three assailants pulled out guns and began shooting the victim.”
After the victim was shot, the victim’s father, who the LA Times says was a retired federal agent, allegedly stepped out to help his son at which point a shootout between the father and the gang members occurred.