A jury found a 22-year-old gang member guilty Wednesday of murdering of two teens at a Venice park in 2011, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputy District Attorney Eugene Hanrahan of the Hardcore Gang Division said Michael Anthony Mariscal, 22, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of street terrorism and possession of a firearm by a felon.
The jury also found true special circumstance allegations of multiple murder and murder to benefit a gang.
Mariscal faces a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole at a hearing on Jan. 14 in Department B of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Airport Branch.
On June 22, 2011, Salvador Diaz, 18, and Allan Mateo, 19, were sitting in the bleachers in Penmar Park with a group of friends when Mariscal walked up and made gang references, according to witness testimony.
Mariscal then opened fire on the group of five teens, killing Diaz and Mateo and wounding a 17-year-old in the leg, the prosecutor said. Two other teens managed to escape without injuries, the prosecutor added.
The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, Pacific Division.
