Man pleads guilty to robbery and murder in Santa Ana park – Orange County Register

SANTA ANA — Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26 for a convicted felony man who pleaded guilty in the robbery and murder of a 15-year-old boy in a Santa Ana park four years ago.

Juan Sotero Gatica pleaded guilty Friday to attempted robbery, five counts of assault with a semiautomatic rifle and possession of a firearm by a felon, and also pleaded guilty to a sentencing enhancement for gang activity.

Gatica was originally charged with murder with the special circumstance of robbery.

Co-defendant Daniel Contreras is a fugitive from justice.

Prosecutors said in court documents that the victim, Rodrigo Aguilar, 15, went to El Salvador Park, 1825 W. Civic Center Drive, with five friends to play basketball on March 25, 2020.

At one point, the group went upstairs to a snack bar to smoke marijuana cigarettes, prosecutors said. Gatica and Contreras walked by, and Gatica said he felt the young people were being “disrespectful” to his group.

Prosecutors alleged that the boys were leaving the park and heading to their car when the defendants confronted them.

When the victims were ordered to empty their pockets, one of the boys punched Gatica in the face, then punched him several more times, leaving him unconscious, prosecutors said.

The other teens got into a fight with Contreras and then began to run away, prosecutors said. Gunshots rang out and Aguilar was shot in the back and died, prosecutors said.