FBI / LAPD Alert
Reward Offered for 1999 Hate Crime Murder Suspect

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For Immediate Release

DATE: September 1, 2004

PUBLIC’S ASSISTANCE SOUGHT IN LOCATING MERCED CAMBERO, JR.,
INDICTED LAST WEEK FOR THE 1999 HATE CRIME MURDER OF
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN – REWARD OFFERED

Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Richard T. Garcia, and William Bratton, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, requested the public’s assistance today in locating fugitive Merced Cambero, Jr. Cambero is wanted for his alleged involvement in violent assaults against African-Americans, including one man who was murdered with a firearm in 1999. Merced and the three other Latino gang members from the Highland Park area of Los Angeles were named in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on civil rights and firearm charges on August 11th, 2004.

A reward of up to $20,000 is being offered in this investigation for information leading to the successful capture of Cambero. All information will be kept confidential.

According to the indictment, the four defendants, alleged members of the Avenues 43 street gang, which is a “clique” or “set” of the larger Avenues gang, conspired with each other and with other gang members to violate the civil rights of African-Americans in the neighborhood claimed by the gang.

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to murder Kenneth Kurry Wilson, a 38-year old African American man who was fatally shot in Highland Park on April 18, 1999, because Wilson was African-American and because he was using the public streets of Los Angeles. The four defendants are also charged with using a firearm during the commission of the conspiracy and hate crime.

Merced Cambero, 26, is the second alleged triggerman in the murder of Wilson, according to the indictment. An arrest warrant was issued for Cambero, who is believed to have fled the Los Angeles area.

Two of the defendants in this case were already in state prison serving sentences on unrelated crimes: Gilbert Saldana, 26, an alleged triggerman in the murder of Wilson, is currently serving a life sentence in state prison for another murder, and Fernando Cazares, 24, is currently serving a 34-month sentence in state prison on various unrelated charges. Alejandro Martinez, 27, was taken into custody on August 20th, 2004, by Agents with the FBI’s Special Weapons and Tactics team.

Because the indictment contains the allegation of Wilson’s murder, all four defendants could face the death penalty.

Cambero is an Hispanic male further described as follows:

..........DOB: 7/17/78
..........Aka: “Shadow”
..........Height: 5’6”
..........Weight: 165
..........Eyes: Brown
..........Hair: Black
..........Languages: English/Spanish

Cambero has double pierced left ears and a cleft in his chin. He has friends or family in East Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley, as well as San Diego and Ventura Counties.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Cambero is urged to contact the FBI 24 hours a day at 310 / 477-6565, or the Los Angeles Police Department at 213 / 485-2563 (Northeast Area Watch Commander- 24 hours).

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department and is being prosecuted by attorneys from the Civil Rights Section of the United States Attorneys Office in Los Angeles and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only allegations of criminal activity and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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CONTACT:

..........FBI
..........11000 Wilshire Blvd.
..........Los Angeles, Ca 90024
....................310 / 996-3341,3342,3343 phone
....................310 / 996-3345 fax