Highland Park Fugitive Arrested In Hate Crime Murders

LOS ANGELES, CA — An alleged gang member from Highland Park, who spent more than a dozen years on the run in connection with two racially motivated murders, was arrested at the Mexican border and brought to federal court Friday to face hate crime charges.

Merced "Shadow" Cambero, 38, was ordered detained and will appear Monday before a federal judge in downtown Los Angeles for the setting of a trial date, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was not immediately asked to enter a plea.

In 2004, Cambero and four fellow alleged members of the Avenues gang were charged with conspiracy against rights, interference with federally protected activities, aiding and abetting, and use or discharge of a firearm during crime of violence causing death.

The case marked the first time the federal hate crime statute had been used to combat racial violence by members of a street gang.

During the ensuing three years, Cambero's co-defendants were convicted and sentenced to life terms in federal prison for their roles in a gang-related conspiracy that led to the murders of two black men in the mostly-Latino neighborhood claimed by the gang, prosecutors said.

Christopher Bowser was shot while waiting at a bus stop in Highland Park on Dec. 11, 2000, and Kenneth Wilson was gunned down while looking for a parking space in Highland Park on April 18, 1999.

Cambero is accused of participating in the murders

City News Service; Photo: FBI