Capital Murder Charges Filed Against Two Men Linked to Botched Taxicab Robbery

Capital Murder Charges Filed Against
Two Men Linked to Botched Taxicab Robbery

April 10, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Joe Scott, Director of Communications
Sandi Gibbons, Public Information Officer
Jane Robison, News Secretary
(213) 974-3525

LOS ANGELES – Charges were filed today against two men in connection with a botched taxicab robbery that left two alleged female assailants dead.

Hector Jasso, 20 (dob 07/24/87), and Daniel Salvador Martinez, 21 (dob 03/03/87), are charged in case No. BA338889 with two counts of murder and the special allegation of personal use of a firearm. The charges also carry two special circumstances of murder during the course of a robbery and multiple murder, making this a capital murder case. The defendants are due to be arraigned this afternoon at Los Angeles Superior Court, Division 30.

Assistant Head Deputy Philip Glaviano of Hardcore Gang Division said in the early morning hours of April 8 in the Hollenbeck area of East Los Angeles the defendants and two female coconspirators devised a plan to rob a cab driver.

The women called for a cab and had the two defendants trail the taxi in their own vehicle. As part of the plan, the women told the cab driver that their boyfriends would pay their fare upon arrival at their destination. When the cab stopped, the two defendants pulled up behind the taxi and one of the two men got out and pulled a gun on the taxicab driver. The defendant, believed to be Jasso, proceeded to snatch a GPS device on the cab’s dashboard and shout out his gang affiliation, prosecutors said.

Seemingly panicked, the cab driver hit the gas and the two men sped off behind him. As the victim drove, one of the two women pulled out a box cutter and repeatedly sliced his throat. Losing control of the cab, the victim crashed and the two women – who were not wearing seatbelts – were ejected from the vehicle and killed. As the two defendants drove up on the scene, they saw the bodies and fled, prosecutors allege.

Jasso, Martinez and the two women had allegedly tried to rob another person before calling for a cab, but the victim got away.

If convicted as charged, Jasso and Martinez face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Although filed as a capital case, the District Attorney’s Office will not make a decision about whether to seek death against one or both of the defendants until their case moves closer to trial. Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron of CLEAR, a subdivision of Hardcore Gang Division, will prosecute the case.

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