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Gang Member's Tattoo Depicting Crime Scene Leads to Conviction in Cold Case Murder
Garcia and his crime scene tattoo (Courtesy LASD)
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An interesting tattoo can definitely be a conversation starter, but for one gang member, it proved to be the key to determining he was the perp in a cold case murder. The tattoo, seen in 2008 by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Detective Sergeant Kevin Lloyd in a photograph of gang member Anthony Garcia, depicted a shooting outside a liquor store. Recognizing the image as the scene of a 2004 murder he was familiar with from a past post as a sergeant at Pico Rivera Sheriff's Station, Lloyd initiated an effort to apprehend Garcia, whose tattoo made him a prime suspect.
The tattoo showed a victim being shot outside a Pico Rivera liquor store by a hovering helicopter; the victim is a "peanut man," making him a rival gang member to Garcia, whose nickname is "Chopper." Details from the tattoo match the real life scene of the murder of 23-year-old John Juarez. "The direction that the shots were actually fired matched those in the tattoo," explain the LASD.
Garcia was arrested in October 2008, and he confessed to the crime while in custody.
Anthony Garcia was booked that day for murder. On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Garcia was convicted by a jury of first degree murder with gang enhancements. He faces sentencing on May 19, 2011, in Norwalk Superior Court.
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