Three Gang Members Convicted on All Counts in Teens’ Murder

Three gang members have been convicted on all counts for their roles in the murder of 17-year-old Quinn McCaleb and 16-year-old Andrew Jackson who were shot as they walked with several friends through a Redlands apartment complex playground in Jan. 2011. During the incident, two other teens were seriously wounded and a fifth escaped unhurt. Anthony Legaspi, 20, of Redlands was convicted of two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of street terrorism and several special firearms and gang allegations. He faces a maximum sentence of 220 years to life in state prison. Jose Lara, 30, of Redlands was convicted of two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of accessory after the fact and one count of street terrorism and several special firearms and gang allegations. He faces a maximum sentence of 176 years to life in state prison. John David Salazar, 25, of Redlands was convicted of two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of street terrorism and several special firearms and gang allegations. He faces a maximum sentence of 176 years to life in state prison. Adrian Powers, a fourth defendant in the case, plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in association with a criminal street gang. His sentence will be set by the judge following the conclusion of all co-defendant’s cases. He faces 3 to 21 years in prison based on the truthfulness of his testimony. Lead Deputy District Attorney Ron Webster of the Central Gang Unit prosecuted the case. “Today justice was carried out for all the victims and their families,” District Attorney Mike Ramos said following the reading of the verdict. “This was a horrendous crime that took the lives of two young boys and injured two others. We will certainly recover as a community and rise from this tragedy, not only for the memories of Quinn and Andrew, but to send a strong message to these local terrorists who try to take over our communities. I have said it before and I will say it again, gang members will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” Sentencing is scheduled June 20, 2014 in Dept. 17 of the San Bernardino Superior Court. Statement of Facts On Jan. 5, 2011, at approximately 7 p.m., 5 teenage boys, Quinn McCaleb, 17, Andrew Jackson, 16, Tequan Thomas, 16, Jordan Howard, 16 and Antonio Puente, 16 were standing in the playground area of the Cinnamon Creek apartments off Oxford Drive in Redlands, when a lone gunman approached the group and fired at least 8 rounds from a semi-automatic 9mm handgun into the group. Four of the boys were struck by bullets. All ran. Quinn McCaleb who was struck by at least two bullets was able to run approximately 180 yards before his severe blood loss caused him to collapse into unconsciousness. He died at the scene. Andrew Jackson was shot twice. He ran about 160 yards before collapsing. He died within the hour. Tequan Thomas suffered a gunshot wound to his leg, and Jordan Howard suffered a gunshot wound to his left eye. The shooting is believed to have been misdirected retaliation by members of the Varrio Redlands criminal street gang—one of whose members had felt threatened and was almost jumped by a large group of males earlier in the day. That member, Anthony Legaspi, obtained a handgun from a member of his gang and had another member drive him around looking for the group that had almost jumped him. Finding the victims, he mistakenly believed this was the group that had threatened him earlier. He followed behind them and when they entered the playground area, he jumped out from behind a bush, yelled “Varrio Redlands” and began shooting. The four innocent victims had no involvement in the earlier incident, were not gang members, and were merely walking together to see a movie at a nearby theater. Quick Facts • Since the inception of the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Gang Unit in July 2005, 8,532 cases have been filed across the county; 2 on death row; 4,683 prison commitments; 35,445 years + 240 life terms in state prison; 2,139 gang enhancements have been found true and 317 were found guilty by jury trial.