HEARING TO BE HELD IN 2003 SLAYING.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A 20-year-old Palmdale man is awaiting a murder trial in the 2003 slaying of a rival gang member who was shot three times before he crashed his car into a parked vehicle on a Palmdale street.

Defendant Carlos Diaz was 16 at the time of the shooting, but prosecutors filed the case in adult court. He is accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Francisco Lopez-Reynaga of Palmdale.

A hearing is to be held this month before a date is set for the long-delayed trial, authorities said.

"We've alleged that he's a gang member and killed a rival gang member in a fight," Deputy District Attorney Robert Sherwood said.

Diaz's attorney, Peter Swarth, declined to comment. Diaz has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, personal use of a firearm and committing a crime for the benefit of his gang. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

The shooting occurred about 4:50 p.m. Jan. 17, 2003, on Third Street East near Avenue Q-3. Diaz was arrested later that day.

Lopez-Reynaga was speaking with three males when one of them pulled out a pistol and shot him three times in the upper body, deputies said. The three ran off while Lopez-Reynaga, fatally wounded, ran to his car and sped toward Palmdale Boulevard. Deputies said the victim's car plowed into a parked van near the 38500 block of Third Street East.

The deputies, with the help of witnesses, found Diaz a short time later at his apartment on Sumac Avenue and arrested him. They said they found two 9mm handguns in Diaz's apartment.

The victim was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he died.

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