Posted on 06/15/2012 8:13:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Pair allegedly tracked the victim, a suspected gang member, down and shot him
A San Francisco couple is accused of murdering an alleged pimp in a final bold act to rescue their 17-year-old daughter from a life of prostitution.
Now, her father faces life in prison.
Barry Gilton, 38, and girlfriend, Lupe Mercado, 37, allegedly tracked the victim and gunned him down as he drove in the early hours of June 4, prosecutors said Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Calvin Sneed, the alleged pimp and a suspected gang member from Los Angeles County, was shot with a .40-caliber handgun near Candlestick Park, police said. He crashed his car and later died at San Francisco General Hospital, the Chronicle reported.
The couple is being tied to at least one other attack against Sneed. The 22-year-old was previously caught in a spray of gunfire on May 27 in North Hollywood, and police believe Gilton and Mercado were involved, NBCBayArea.com reported.
The pair, arrested Saturday, have been dating since their teens and are parents of four children, including the 17-year-old, whom local reports didn’t identify. The parents had reportedly found the girl in an escort ad and believed she was working for Sneed.
Gilton was additionally charged with possession of a firearm as a felon; he was convicted of drug charges in 1995, according to the Chronicle.
While Gilton, the suspected gunman, could see life in prison, Mercado also faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.
Attorney Eric Safire, who represents Gilton, acknowledged the couple had a motive for killing Sneed, but evidence is flimsy.
“There’s no weapon, and there’s no eyewitness,” Safire said, according to the Chronicle. “What we do know is that the victim is a known gang member, he was out at 2 a.m. in a high crime area — I can only presume he was engaged in his normal and customary (pimping) activities.”
But District Attorney George Gascon told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that prosecutors have “substantial evidence to believe that this was a premeditated event.”
Sneed’s father, Charles Sneed, referred to his son as “a pimp,” but condemned his killing.
“Who are they to say they are God, to determine whether Calvin lived or died?” Charles Sneed told the Chronicle on Thursday. “How come they didn’t let a judge do that? They took it into their own hands.”
Gilton and Mercado will be arraigned June 20 and are each held on $2 million bail, the Los Angeles Times said.
The couple’s children, including the 17-year-old daughter, are now living with other family, according to reports.
the problem started long before the pimp entered the picture
the ‘parents’ lived in San francesspool ... and had kids...
the fault lies with the parents for their daughter getting ensnared by the underbelly of San fran’s seedy left culture
And most likely the daughter will go back to prostitution.
Prison?
There is no justice in a LIBERAL society.
These two people should be given the parentingof the year award.
Me on the jury, I vote Not Guilty !
If they were that good as parents, their daughter wouldn’t have whored herself out to some pimp in the first place.
If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.
Gilton's crime was not doing this about 60 years ago when most fathers would have stood with him and probably convicted him on a wrist-slap.
Yes, the only good part of the story is the pimp is dead and at least employed people won’t have their wages seized to support that one.
One good man or woman on the jury will settle the case the way it oughta be settled.
Reminds me somewhat of this case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Oi3Hyxuf5AE
(Caution - Graphic violence)
Candlestick Park —one of the three super bad parts of San Francisco. Default dress involves drooping pants, NBA jersey, crappy small pistol.
You get the picture.
A man molested a girl in our county. Her stepfather went to see the man, and told him he could have a gunshot wound to each cheek or go to jail. The gun shot was chosen. The man laid on the floor and received two bullet wounds. The step-dad drove him to the hospital and dropped him off. I think the shooter got some jail and probation.
Well, if they didn’t raise their child right and she went to prostitution they certainly made amends for it now.
Give ‘em a medal. Ding dong the pimp is dead. Better than our penal system can do.
A prime case for jury nullification.
In this case, the authorities had refused outright to intervene. I cant see myself as a juror being able to figure out what is what unless the law enforcement agency (who should have locked up the pimp) were to be a codefendant.
Two out of every five childhood sexual abuse victims go on to have some experience in the sex industry as they grow older. Not for a single reason, there are a host of only loosely related pathologies that cause this.
You can't hover protectively over your child every moment or you will produce a basket case. The whole thing is sad.
So, while they could indeed have been bad parents, that is by no means a given.
I don’t have a problem at all with them or what they allegedly did. I would do the same... I would ask however where are the grandparents?
It would seem as though this was their responsibility...
IF they did. Sounds like the police only have a motive, not a case.
[IF they did. Sounds like the police only have a motive, not a case.]
I’m afraid that the fact we’re reading about this and the parents are being held on a total of $4 million bond means the DA thinks he has a strong case. I hope I’m wrong.
This story would make a good movie but Hollywood with twist it around.
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