Insufficient evidence to charge Moss Landing shooting suspect, DA says

An 18-year-old arrested for a shooting in Moss Landing earlier this month that killed two underage teens will not be charged because of insufficient evidence, the Monterey County District Attorney said Monday. The Nov. 2 shooting on Jetty Road adjacent to Moss Landing State Beach left 15-year-old Marco Antonio Perez and 13-year-old Nathaniel Flores dead. Both victims were from Salinas. A third person was also shot and survived, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office said. The shooting followed a late-night party on the beach that included dozens of people, mostly juveniles and young adults; among them were Norteño gang members and associates, the District Attorney's Office said. On Nov. 5, 18-year-old Donald William Breeden of Greenfield was arrested on two counts of murder with additional criminal street gang enhancements, the Sheriff's Office said. In press release on Monday , District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni said after a thorough review, her office concluded there is insufficient evidence to file charges at this time and it is not clear who began shooting following a dispute at the beach gathering. According to Pacioni, an argument erupted between a group of people from Salinas and a group from Greenfield, about 35 miles southeast of Salinas. The argument began members of the Salinas group were alleged to have stolen items from members of the Greenfield group, along with allegedly committing vandalism and threatening violence at the party, Pacioni said. Some of the allegations were corroborated by witnesses and evidence, such as one member of the Salinas group found with multiple necklaces stolen from females at the party, Pacioni said. Witnesses told investigators the argument escalated with both sides yelling gang insults at one another and threatening each other by either holding their waistbands like they had guns or actually exhibiting guns, Pacioni said. Witnesses dispute which group opened fire first and the evidence points in different directions, she added. "It was dark, and many of those present were underage, intoxicated, or involved in some respect. At present, the physical evidence is no clearer: Law enforcement collected 21 shell casings at the scene, which were fired from two or more guns," Pacioni said in the press release. "Under California Law, the prosecution has the burden to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt," Pacioni added. "In other words, self-defense is not just a trial defense available to the accused; the People bear the burden to prove its absence to file charges in the first place. At this time there is insufficient evidence to prove that Donald Breeden did not fire in self-defense." It was not clear whether Breeden was still in custody as of Monday evening. Anyone with information about the shooting was encouraged to contact Sheriff's Detective Richard Geng at 831-759-7279. In: Shooting Murder Monterey County Featured Local Savings