Two 15-year-olds, Jose Vega and Nicolas Salazar are facing murder charges after a shooting left 16-year-old Jesus Espinoza dead on April 18th, outside a Madera Carl's Jr. Only CBS47 was in the courtroom during Thursday’s hearing, we asked Vega's defense attorney about the charges. “Based on the police reports there has been a lot of misinformation,” said Atty. Arpa Keshishian, with Madera Alternate Defense. The Madera Police Department says the suspect and even the victim have long criminal wrap sheets and the Madera County District Attorney is charging them as adults. “They're facing murder charges; they're facing street terrorism charges, being active participants in a gang. And also terrorist threats,” said District Attorney, Michael Keitz. “What we have is probably an overzealous prosecution at this point,” said Atty. Robert Hirth, with Madera Alternate Defense. The public defenders say there’s not enough for the case to stick. “An awful lot of cross information going on. There’s a lot of witnesses, their statements just do not agree with each other,” said Hirth. And the murder weapon was not found - the defense say that makes it hard to prove that Vega was the shooter. “The case would not be going forward if the judge didn't feel that he was confident that it was appropriate timing for the case to go forward,” said Keitz. The Defense team plans to file an appeal in the decision to charge Vega as an adult.
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Teenaged Murder Suspects in Court
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