NOT GUILTY PLEA FROM MAN ACCUSED IN SLAYING OF 18-YEAR-OLD

A 21-year-old man pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court on Friday to a murder charge in the shooting death of an 18year-old barber in front of his Mira Mesa home last fall.

Nicholas Forehand also faces an allegation of vicarious use of a gun — meaning he was a principal part of the killing but not the one who pulled the trigger — in the fatal shooting of Brian Mendoza Camacho. Forehand faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted.

A 17-year-old boy has also been arrested on suspicion of murder and is slated to be arraigned in San Diego Juvenile Court next week.

Mendoza Camacho was gunned down about 9:30 a.m. Oct. 5 on Deering Street, in a residential neighborhood north of Mira Mesa Boulevard and west of Camino Ruiz. Officers found him lying in the street outside of his home, San Diego police Lt. Jud Campbell said last year.

According to Deputy District Attorney Laurie Hauf, Forehand and the 17-year-old got into Forehand’s vehicle that day and drove to Mendoza Camacho’s home, where he also worked as a barber.

She said Mendoza Camacho was shot twice. He died at the scene.

The prosecutor said video and cellphone evidence tied Forehand to the scene, but declined to elaborate because that was not discussed in further detail at the arraignment.

In October, 10News reported that Mendoza Camacho graduated from Mira Mesa High School last year, and he had enrolled at Cal State San Marcos.

Forehand is due back in court Jan. 25 to ask a judge to set bail. He remains jailed without bail.