Three men have been arrested for the gang-related murder of Jorge Gonzales Valdez, who was gunned down in a Placentia alley Dec. 23. Daniel Nestor, 19, 25-year-old laborer Luis Ramon Llanes and Ignacio David Morales, 21,
were arrested on murder, conspiracy and gang charges after a multi-agency sweep of Placentia, Anaheim, Fullerton and La
Habra that resulted in several arrests for gang-related crimes.
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Several people heard gunshots near the 600 block of Placentia's Center
Street Sunday morning, Dec. 23, and called 9-1-1. Officers arrived to a nearby
alley around 5:20 a.m. to find 24-year-old Valdez suffering
from multiple gunshot wounds. He later died
despite the life-saving efforts of police and paramedics.
The police investigation determined a confrontation
between an unknown number of people took place in the alley before shots
were fired. Detectives suspected a
gang-related fatal shooting.
Jorge Gonzales Valdez, 2012 OC Homicide No. 48: Gang Shooter(s) Suspected
Orange County Jail records show Llanes was arrested on Jan. 5.
Authorities say about 60 officers took part in the sweep that resulted in 12 arrests, and the confiscation of drugs, handguns, assault rifles, sawed-off shotguns and the vehicle believed to have been used in the Valdez shooting. Tips are still being collected at Orange County Crime Stoppers, 1.855.TIP.OCCS.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.