A Los Angeles judge has ruled there is enough evidence to try a 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a 70-year-old Panorama City resident outside an apartment building long controlled by the Blythe Street gang. Andrew Lopez, described as a reputed Blythe Street member, pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and firearms offenses in connection with the August 2024 killing of Clyde Moore, who was shot once in the back of the head while sitting in a red Jaguar sedan outside 9010 Tobias Ave.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Judge David Walgren ordered Lopez to stand trial after prosecutors laid out testimony from Moore’s wife, who said Lopez approached their car that August morning while armed with a gun and demanded, “What y’all n— doing out here?” Moore’s wife had gone to Tobias Avenue to give money to her uncle, and she told the court she recognized Lopez as the same man who had approached the couple six months earlier and demanded payment for them to be in the area. Prosecutors said Moore tried to flee in his car and crashed through a wrought iron fence before Lopez shot him; his wife testified that Lopez also raised the gun toward her.
Authorities said they found cocaine, drug paraphernalia and three counterfeit $100 bills in Moore’s car, and Lopez was arrested the day after the shooting. Officer Julio Paredes testified that Blythe Street members dominate the Tobias Avenue building, per the Times, and LAPD investigators obtained surveillance video that appears to show Lopez running on the stairs to sell drugs. Lopez was living in a third-floor unit of the apartment complex at the time of his arrest, and Moore and his wife had lived only a few blocks away.
A Drug Hub With a Bloody History
The address at 9010 Tobias Ave. has been the site of several killings, and Blythe Street considers the building its stronghold, guarding its turf there even as rivals have tried to move in. In February 2024, Luis Gaona was shot to death outside the same complex, and detectives suspected members of the Original Valley Gangster Crips killed him in an attempt to seize control of the drug-dealing hub. Blythe Street members reportedly retrieve drugs from apartment units there for waiting customers…