Espinoza's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jorge Guzman, presented a photograph of graffiti painted on the road near the site of the shooting. The graffiti included the gang's insignia and "2 Wild," a shorthand for "Deuces Wild," he said.
Under questioning by Guzman, LAPD Det. Mark Holguin acknowledged that Jamiel's girlfriend told police he was a gang member. But the detective also said the victim had never been arrested and had never been seen by police with gang members.
"Because someone says someone's a gang member doesn't mean they are," he said.
After the hearing, Jamiel's father said the issue should not deflect attention from the issues of racial violence and illegal immigration already raised by the killing.
Jamiel Shaw Sr. said his son was never in a gang.
"He was just a regular kid growing up in the neighborhood," Shaw Sr. said. "He wasn't the pope sprinkling everyone, but at the same time my son has never even been suspended from school."
During Thursday's hearing, prosecutors focused their attention on Espinoza's reputed ties to the 18th Street gang. On a projector screen, Deputy Dist. Atty. Halim Dhanidina showed a photograph of a large "18" tattoo covering Espinoza's back. A much smaller "18" tattoo was etched near his left eye.
The letters "BK" were tattooed behind his left ear. LAPD Officer Winston Lee, a gang expert, testified that the initials stood for "Blood Killer."
The 18th Street gang, he said, includes members from different races. Lee said the gang has long been at war with Bloods, but does business with other black gangs. Jamiel lived in the Arlington Heights neighborhood, an area claimed by the Rollin' 20s Bloods gang, he said.
Torres, Jamiel's neighbor who also knew Espinoza from high school, testified that he spoke to Espinoza several days after the shooting and told him that someone had been killed in the neighborhood.
Espinoza replied: "BK all day. I'm going to wipe all the Bloods out," Torres told the court.
Espinoza has pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled to be arraigned July 3.
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jack.leonard@latimes.com
