Sentencing May be Imminent for Suspect in Killing of Teens

One of four men charged in the shooting deaths of two teenagers at Libby Lake Park in Oceanside could be sentenced Feb. 13 -- unless his lawyer files a motion to withdraw his plea, a prosecutor said today.

Kenneth Dwight Hamilton, 36, pleaded guilty in the May 3, 2011, deaths of 14-year-old Sandra Salgado and 16-year-old Fernando Solano.

Hamilton and co-defendant Justin Holiday Gibson each pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and 21-year-old AL'C Bejaran -- the shooter -- pleaded guilty to murder.

A fourth gang member, Tyrone Blackmon, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Bejaran was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Gibson was sentenced to 20 years in state prison last week.

Attorney Marc Chambers is expected to tell a judge at a hearing set for Feb. 13 if he plans to file a motion to withdraw Hamilton's guilty plea. If no motion is filed, sentencing will go forward the same day, Deputy District Attorney Cal Logan said.

Oceanside police found the bodies at the Calle Montecito Street park about 10:30 p.m. while responding to reports of gunfire in the area.

The teens, who relatives said were boyfriend and girlfriend, had no gang ties but were in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to police.

The prosecution said Gibson and Hamilton -- members of a predominately black gang -- went to the park in rival Hispanic gang territory with Bejaran the night of the shootings.

Police said Hamilton later confessed he, Gibson and Bejaran were smoking pot when Bejaran spotted the teenagers on a hillside and shot them. Bejaran's then-girlfriend testified that he wanted revenge for an attack on Hamilton days earlier. 

-- City News Service