A Long Beach man has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a rival gang member that took place in an apartment complex near the city’s Washington neighborhood last summer.
Lajuan Deshaun King, 30, appeared in court Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty. He remains in custody on $4 million bail and is scheduled for another hearing March 17.
Long Beach police detectives arrested King on Jan. 12 near his home in the 1000 block of East Seventh Street, close to Gumbiner Park, after homicide detectives collected evidence linking him to the July 11 slaying of Bernardo Solorio, whom court records describe as a 37-year-old rival gang member from the Barrio Pobre crew.
According to a search warrant filed in Long Beach Superior Court, video footage shows Solorio standing in front of an apartment complex about half a mile from Poly High School when the drivers of a silver Toyota sedan and a black Dodge Charger begin heading eastbound in his direction.
Police wrote that when Solorio noticed the black Dodge Charger driving past him, his demeanor visibly changed. Soon after, King, wearing all dark clothing and a face mask, is allegedly seen chasing Solorio toward the front gate of the apartment complex in the 300 block of East 17th Street, according to the warrant.
Once Solorio ran into the apartment complex, he shut the front gate behind him. Rather than try to open the gate, King, a member of the Insane Baby Crips gang, is allegedly seen scaling it, standing on the doorknob, and then shooting down at Solorio, according to the warrant.
Police responded to the area of the shooting around 9:13 a.m. where they found Solorio in a courtyard suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Before dying from his injuries at a nearby hospital, Solorio told police that the person who shot him was in a Dodge Charger, according to police records.
In a months-long investigation, LBPD’s forensics team was able to use the bullet casings they found at the scene and a matching Glock-style ghost gun that had been seized by the Los Angeles Police Department in November to create a nexus between King and the evidence, according to police records.
Police suspect the gun LAPD recovered is the same one used to kill Solorio and that the motive behind the incident was gang-related.
King is facing one count each of murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show.
Man arrested in connection to July shooting death near Washington neighborhood, police say