Hearing Begins for 3 Accused of Killing Minister
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LOS ANGELES — A preliminary hearing began Thursday for three reputed gang members charged with robbing an Orange County minister inside a telephone booth, then shooting him to death as he prayed.
Todd Lavera, 22; Tracy Carter, 18, and Andre Moore, 17, are charged with killing David Thompson, 27, a licensed minister and an elder at the Greater Zion Apostolic Church in Santa Ana.
Thompson had gone to the telephone booth to call for help after his church bus had broken down in South Los Angeles in April. The suspects allegedly robbed the minister and his wife, then shot him as he said a final prayer. The killers then forced the wife from the car and drove off with it.
Lavera and Carter are also charged with a second murder that occurred two hours after the Thompson killing. They are accused of robbing and killing Leopoldo Salgado, 49, of Los Angeles, as he left a liquor store.
The preliminary hearing before Municipal Judge Marion L. Obera will determine if there is sufficient evidence for the defendants to stand trial.
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