Suspected Murderer Accused of Shooting at Weho Couple Makes First Court Appearance

By FRED SHUSTER
City News Service

A Sylmar man suspected in the weekend killings of three people in the San Fernando Valley and a shooting in West Hollywood made an initial court appearance today on murder and attempted murder charges stemming from separate shootings in the Pacoima area and West Hollywood.

Alexander Hernandez, 34, had his arraignment postponed until Sept. 17, but the defendant was ordered to remain jailed without bail. San Fernando Superior Court Judge Michael O’Gara said, however, that Hernandez’s next appearance would be at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles.

Hernandez, with a mustache and a shaved head, was handcuffed and shackled as he appeared in court, wearing a yellow top and blue pants. The only words he spoke during the brief hearing were “yes sir,” when the judge asked if he waived his right to be arraigned today.

Hernandez is charged with murdering Gildardo Morales, 48, who was shot Thursday while driving his pickup truck to work in the Pacoima area, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of murder during a drive-by shooting. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Hernandez.

He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing on a husband and wife who were in their vehicle in West Hollywood Friday, along with three counts of animal cruelty for allegedly shooting three dogs at a house in Pacoima, killing two and injuring the third, on Saturday.

He is also charged with two counts of discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and one count each of shooting at an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Hernandez has not been charged in connection with three killings that occurred within an hour of each other Sunday morning in the San Fernando Valley, although police said they believe he is the culprit in those shootings and expect additional charges to be filed against him. At a news conference Tuesday, law enforcement authorities outlined seven separate shootings they believed Hernandez carried out, and they dubbed him a “serial killer.”

Hernandez was arrested about 9:15 p.m. Sunday after he barricaded himself inside a residence in the area of Polk Street and Kismet Avenue in Sylmar for about an hour, police said.

Leads gathered by investigators, including the description of the vehicle believed to have been used in the shootings, brought police to the home where Hernandez had holed up, authorities said.

The first of the Sunday attacks occurred around 5:50 a.m. in the 1400 block of Celis Street in San Fernando, where three of five family members inside an SUV were struck by gunfire, according to Sgt. Frank Preciado of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Section.

A woman died at the scene and two people were injured, one of them gravely, according to the LAPD. The San Fernando Valley Sun identified the deceased woman as 22-year-old Mariana Franco and the wounded as her parents, Jose and Beatriz Franco, both Eucharist Ministers at Santa Rosa Catholic Church. Mariana Franco was in a wheelchair, according to various media reports. Two children in the SUV were unhurt.

At 6:30 a.m. Sunday, a man between 25 and 35 years old was shot at the Sylmar Recreation Center in the 13000 block of Borden Avenue and died at the scene, according to the LAPD. Police said the man had been collecting recyclables in the area and was shot while walking.

Then, at 6:45 a.m. Sunday, a woman was shot in the head in the 12900 block of Filmore Street in Pacoima and died at the scene, police said.

She was identified by family members as Gloria Esperanza Tobar. Her daughter, Lucia Montano, told reporters her mother was a Eucharist Minister at Guardian Angel parish in Pacoima. She was shot while waiting to take someone to church.

Los Angeles Deputy police Chief Kirk Albanese said investigators believe Hernandez was responsible for seven separate shootings beginning Aug. 20, when a 42-year-old woman was shot while driving in the Atwater Village area.

Albanese said all seven shootings, including the three for which Hernandez was charged Tuesday, were all carried out by a single suspect in an SUV with a shotgun. He said that when Hernandez was arrested Sunday night, he had a pistol-grip shotgun in his possession.

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