Public records shed light on the L.A. County district attorney’s case against a Newhall gang member who is identified as the lone suspect in two Oct. 31 shooting deaths on De Wolfe Road in Newhall.
Detectives now think a female attendee who was kicked out of a backyard house party on Halloween returned with angry family members, who started a fight that led to the fatal gunfire, according to court records obtained by The Signal.
Alejandro Trujillo, aka “Joker,” has been arrested twice on suspicion of murder in connection with the deaths of Elijah Harts and Anthony Mora on Halloween, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department arrest records.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau have declined to share any details about their case, with the case’s supervisor, Lt. Daniel Vizcarra, calling it an active investigation.
An arrest warrant filed Jan. 23 required investigators to tell a judge their theory on what led up to the fatal shooting outside the Halloween party that night.
Two detectives started their investigation at the scene in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, after the gunfire broke out near 25031 De Wolfe Road. LASD officials indicated the shooting happened around 11:22 p.m.
“During the party, a female had an altercation in the rear yard area of the location. Ultimately, she was kicked out of the party and asked to leave the residence,” according to the detective’s report. “The female left the residence and contacted a family friend, who then contacted the female’s family. The female’s family arrived and contacted some of the party goers inquiring as to why their sister was in an altercation with possibly males that were security guards at the party.”
What followed was described by detectives as “a large physical altercation,” which involved multiple male and female combatants, according to the report.
“During the altercation, a young Hispanic male began shooting,” according to the incident summary. “The party goers began to run in different directions away from the incident location.”
Initial reports indicated that two people were seen running from the scene; however, investigative reports give the impression the second person may have been a witness who was following Trujillo, according to the report.
When deputies arrived, near a blue Dodge Charger they found Harts not breathing, having suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the warrant. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:43 p.m. Mora was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where he died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen at 3:21 p.m. the following day.
Multiple witnesses described a suspect that fit Trujillo’s description: between 5 feet, 6 to 8 inches tall, heavyset, with short, dark hair. A witness followed the shooter on foot, and the shooter took off running when he learned he was being followed, according to the arrest warrant for Trujillo.
Homicide detectives indicated to the judge that when they reached out to Hart High School’s resource deputy, he recalled Trujillo from a previous on-campus assault.
The incident was mentioned in a separate court record filed for a series of raids on locations associated with known members of the Newhall 13 gang, including Trujillo. It was also mentioned as a prior conviction in Trujillo’s criminal complaint for the murder charges.
Trujillo was convicted as a minor of assaulting another student and making his victim apologize on a video he shot with his cellphone, according to the court records. Trujillo attacked the student for a perceived disrespect, according to detectives.
That same cellphone was used by homicide detectives to retrace the route Trujillo allegedly took from the scene, after they obtained a Nov. 5 search warrant for its records.
Detectives said the phone records they received the following month showed Trujillo taking the route the witness said he did, and then turning off his phone about 15 minutes after the shooting.
He never turned it back on, according to detectives.
He’s due back in court Feb. 23 for his preliminary arraignment.
