Guilty verdict in Libby Lake double-murder case

One of the men accused in the slayings of two teenagers at an Oceanside park in 2013 has been convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.

Kevin Brizuela, 20, was charged in the deaths of Melanie Virgen, 13, and Edgar Sanchez, 15, who were gunned down as they sat on a couch at the top of a hill at Libby Lake Community Park.

Two other male teens, ages 17 and 18 at the time, were shot and seriously injured, but survived.

On Wednesday, a Vista Superior Court jury found Brizuela guilty of two counts of murder, two counts of premeditated attempted murder, and gun-use and gang allegations. A special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders was found to be true.

Brizuela is scheduled to be sentenced April 6. Although he is technically eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that that a person who was a juvenile when he comitted murder should be given a reasonable chance at parole.

Brizuela was 17 at the time of the shooting.

On March 13, 2013, shots rang out in Libby Lake park, located in an area bounded by Douglas Drive, North River Road and Vandegrift Boulevard. The area, near Camp Pendleton’s back gate has a history of violence, much of it gang related.

Deputy District Attorney Christine Bannon has said Melanie and Edgar were ambushed as they sat on a couch near a makeshift memorial for two other teens who gunned down at the same spot two years earlier. None of the victims had gang ties.

The assailants fled in a pickup.

Brizuela was tried as an adult. The other defendants charged in the shooting — Martin Melendrez, 24, Michael Zurita, 22, and Santo Diaz, 22 — will be tried separately.

Melendrez’s trial is scheduled for March 1. Zurita will follow probably in late April or May, the prosecutor said.

Diaz was tried late last year and was acquitted in December of first-degree murder charges. The jury was unable to reach unanimous decisions on second-degree murder and premeditated attempted murder.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com