Two more East Chicago Two Six gang members have been charged in a cold case homicide.
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Anthony Laviena and Deaundra Joshua both face one charge of murder resulting from the use of a firearm during a federal drug or violent crime.
According to a probable cause affidavit unsealed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, they’re accused of helping kill Alberto Guzman in 1999 in East Chicago.
One other alleged Two Six member, Rodney King, was charged earlier this year in Guzman’s killing, and a handful of other Two Six gang members have been recently charged with other gang-related crimes.
According to the affidavit, an unidentified cooperating defendant told investigators in January that the Two Six and the Imperial Gangsters were at war with each other, shooting at each other almost every day. An unknown Imperial Gangster had shot at one Two Six member, Robert Fuentes, on Oct. 6, 1999, in East Chicago, and the cooperating defendant ordered other King and Laviena to retaliate by finding and shooting Imperial Gangsters.
The defendant, Laviena, Joshua, King and other gang members then drove around East Chicago in three vehicles, talking by cell phones used as walkie talkies.
They eventually saw a van owned by Guzman, and the cooperating defendant ordered Laviena and King to shoot at it.
The two men snuck up on the van and shot at Guzman, King shooting at the back of the van and Laviena shooting at the driver’s side window. The men then fled in their cars.
King later confirmed the story with federal investigators, adding that he didn’t know who was in the van at the time, only that he had been ordered to shoot at it.
King also told agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that before the shooting, various Two Six members met at a house, where the cooperating defendant ordered the shootings, gave King two guns and told him “Make me proud. Don’t disappoint me.”
The shooting made King, who was 16 at the time, an official member of the gang.
The affidavit adds that Joshua has already admitted to agents that he drove the car for Laviena and King and saw them shoot at the van.
Joshua was arrested Monday and made his initial appearance Tuesday, where he was released on a $20,000 bond, according to court records. His arraignment is set for July 20.
It was unclear as of Tuesday afternoon if Laviena had been arrested.
Contact Teresa Auch Schultz at [email protected].