Murder trial exposes gang intrigue, greed

Neighbors remember that while Johnny Agudo was in prison, Luis Mendoza took over 7th Street Locos.

Johnny Agudo was released from prison in July 2000. Mendoza offered to kill him if Gilbert did not, according to Kersey and court testimony.

The night of the killings, Mendoza and his crew met with the Agudos and others at the West Side duplex.

There, in a darkened driveway, men who'd grown up together faced off over the greenlight on Johnny Agudo and who would run the neighborhood for the Eme, according to court testimony.

Amid the argument, the shooters allegedly opened fire and mortally wounded the two pairs of brothers. Johnny Agudo died with a gun in his pocket.

"They were family," said John Ramirez, who pleaded guilty in the case but claims to have done no shooting. "Everyone in it was family."

Gilbert Agudo was killed to prevent his retaliation; the Lunas because they were witnesses, Kersey alleges.

Mendoza "knew if he did this for Eme, then he'd be in charge," Kersey said in an interview. "He'd be running the streets."

Eight years later, the West Side neighborhood remains weak and fragmented.

Since the killings, the Eme has had trouble finding trustworthy soldiers to step up and work the streets, Kersey said.

"Wipe out two brothers and it's had an effect up to today," she said, because "this code about not killing each other is out the window."

Angel Agudo, whose family left the West Side, said he was not surprised when his brothers were slain.

Given their positions in the Eme, "you're either going to go into the upper echelon or somebody's going to take you out," he said. "The greed, the envy, the struggle for power -- it all ate away at the neighborhood unity."

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sam.quinones@latimes.com