Murder suspect grew up in Pico neighborhood
SM JAIL — A 17-year-old alleged Santa Monica gang member was arrested Thursday for the murder of Jalonnie Carter, who was gunned down in September 2003 in an eastside neighborhood. Santa Monica Police arrested Matthew Felix Vargas after the Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant and charged him with first-degree murder; one count of personal use of a firearm causing bodily injury; two counts of the intentional discharge of a firearm and one count of gang enhancement that contributed to the furtherance of gang activity.
“The above offense was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further and assist in criminal conduct by gang members,” reads the DA’s complaint against Vargas.
Vargas, who’s also known as “Lil Rooster,” was picked up on Thursday by SMPD officers at a juvenile detention facility in Sylmar. Because he’s a minor, authorities couldn’t discuss what crime Vargas was serving time for.
At 11:30 a.m., Vargas was booked into Santa Monica Jail on $2 million bail, said SMPD Chief James T. Butts Jr.
Vargas, who will be tried as an adult, faces life imprisonment if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned today at the LAX Courthouse.
Vargas, who is Hispanic and lives in the Pico neighborhood, is allegedly a member of the Santa Monica 17th Street Gang, Butts said. The 17th Street gang is frequently is at odds with the city’s other gang, the Graveyard Crips. One gang is black, the other Latino.
Carter, 19, was shot in the back with a.22-caliber gun in the 1800 block of 20th Street, while he was walking through an alley on Sept. 2, 2003. The bullet pierced his heart and he died a few hours later at a local hospital.
Shortly after, police arrested a neighbor in connection with the murder but the DA’s office dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence.
Butts said on Thursday that he believes the evidence discovered thus far in the 19-month-long investigation is solid and Vargas will be brought to justice.
“We believe we have the firearm that was used,” said Butts, who declined to discuss specifics of the case or the evidence that will be presented at trial. “This investigation is ongoing and is in the hands of the district attorney.”
Police believe that Carter was not involved in gang activity and was a random victim of violence.
“We believe he’s an innocent victim of a brutal murder,” Butts said, adding on Thursday he visited Carter’s parents’ home, which is located on 20th Street, less than a block from where their son was shot. “They are elated that there will be justice brought for Jalonnie.”
Carter’s mother and stepfather, Shirley and Larry Joseph, were unavailable for comment on Thursday. But a relative who was at their Santa Monica home said the family was very happy with the arrest.
“It’s been a long time coming,” she said.
Carter, who was known by friends and family as “Little Bear” and “Pooh Bear,” was described as a hard-working young man who was studying for a career in computers while working two jobs. He is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery, which is located in the Pico neighborhood.
For the past decade, most of the gang activity in Santa Monica has been in a relatively small section of the Pico neighborhood — 17th Street and Michigan Avenue. And many of the gang members are youth and young adults who are on parole or probation, police said. The Pico neighborhood runs north of the Santa Monica Freeway to Santa Monica Boulevard, south to Pico Boulevard and east from Lincoln Boulevard to Centinela Boulevard.
Sources said as a youth, Vargas used to frequent the Pico Youth & Family Center, a City Hall-funded nonprofit organization intended to promote peace, unity and social justice in the troubled neighborhood. The center is designed to serve as a place of empowerment and education for young men and women.
Sources said Vargas is the son of a member of Mothers For Justice, a group based in the Pico neighborhood with the mission of ending unfair discipline treatment and racial profiling in the local school district.
Carter’s death was the only homicide in Santa Monica in 2003 and had been one of the few unsolved murders for the SMPD. Less than two months after the murder, the Josephs hired retired Los Angeles Police Department detective supervisor Jim Vuchsas to work on the case as a private investigator.
And in April of 2004, the City Council authorized a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed Carter.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 8, 2005. Read the original PDF.