Gang Member May Face Death For Killing Girl, 14

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles jury is recommending death for a Latino gang member who killed a 14-year-old black girl in a racially motivated shooting.

City News Service says the recommendation came Monday and a judge will sentence 22-year-old Jonathan Fajardo next January.

Fajardo was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances in the 2006 killing of Cheryl Green and the stabbing death of a gang member less than two weeks later.

The girl was killed when gunmen opened fire on a group of people in the Harbor Gateway area. Prosecutors say 25-year-old Christopher Ash was killed because fellow gang members believed he might be talking to police about the shooting.

Co-defendant Daniel Aguilar got a life sentence for his role in Ash's slaying.

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