2 Face Trial in Death of Teen

Two alleged gang members accused of beating a rival to death in September were ordered to stand trial on one count of murder Friday by Ventura County Superior Court Judge James Kloninger.

One of the defendants, Eric Marcelino, 18, of Oxnard, faces a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon--a Club-type anti-auto-theft device--to beat 17-year-old Luis Gerardo Rodriguez, said Marcelino’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Brian Fitzpatrick.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on Sept. 20, Rodriguez was found injured and being attended to by two females in the 2100 block of Sierra Place in Oxnard. He was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead early the next morning.

Authorities say the senior at Channel Islands High School died after being struck several times in the head.

Francisco Soto, 20, of Oxnard and Marcelino are believed to be two of six men around Rodriguez when he was beaten. According to prosecutor Maeve Fox, witnesses said Soto hit and kicked Rodriguez, and Marcelino struck him using the anti-theft device.

“It’s a messy case,” Fox said. “It’s an extremely violent gang-related beating death.”

Fitzpatrick said the biggest conflict in the testimony offered by witnesses is in who wielded the device used to beat Rodriguez.

The weapon was never found.

Soto is being held in County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said. Marcelino is being held on $500,000 bail, she said.

Both men will be arraigned in Superior Court on Feb. 6.