APD: Six young people arrested in beating that led to fatal shooting

Warrants issued for four more suspects

When a group of teenage boys and young adults who police say are in a gang decided to attack one of their own with baseball bats and muff ler pipes last month, it didn’t end well.

Not only was one of them killed in the attack, but now many have been arrested and charged in the ambush.

The teen they attacked survived, but only because he shot and killed one of his assailants in self-defense, according to police.

Police have arrested six people — Ivan Veleta, 16, Eyzea Zamora, 16, Derek Muniz, 20, Ricardo Mones, 21, Juaquin Portillo, 21, and Kayleen Tatum, 21. And they have filed arrest warrants for four others — Jeremiah Abalos, 16, Jose Barron, 17, Raymond Prieto, 18, and Esmeralda Chavez, 21, none of whom had been arrested by Thursday evening.

Officers were called to a home near Sage and Snow Vista SW on Dec. 11 and found 20-year-old Joshua Garcia dead of a gunshot wound to the chest. After interviewing witnesses, detectives learned that Garcia and up to 14 of his friends, all alleged members of a gang, had reportedly ambushed another gang member, 16-year-old Carl Mather, and bludgeoned him.

When detectives tracked down Mather, he had cuts all over his head and broken front teeth.

Mather told officers that Garcia owed him money for heroin and that he went to collect the debt at Garcia’s house.

“A large group of boys began jumping over fences, running from the back yard and running up to the house from the street, attacking Carl,” a detective wrote in the complaint. “Carl stated he was trying to get to his gun to defend himself but the boys were on top of him, striking, hitting, kicking and beating him with metal pipes and bats.”

Mather fired once, then started running.

“Carl stated he was in fear for his life because he thought he was going to be killed,” the detective wrote. “He was trying to wipe the blood from his face because he could not see out of his right eye.”

Everyone who has been arrested or is wanted in the incident is facing charges of aggravated battery with a weapon causing great bodily harm, robbery, kidnapping, attempt to commit a violent felony, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony and conspiracy, according to court records.

Muniz, Portillo and Tatum appeared before a judge at Metropolitan Court on Thursday. Judge Henry Alaniz set bonds for Muniz and Portillo at $35,000 cash or surety, and released Tatum to pretrial services and her mother’s care.