Relatives of 49th Street Massacre victims relieved as trials end

Relatives of victims killed in the 49th Street Massacre said they were relieved they no longer have to go to court following this week’s sentencing of a gang member convicted of carrying out the shooting.

Charles Ray Smith, 44, was sentenced to death Friday for the murder of four people, including three killed in the 49th Street shooting, one of the city’s most notorious gang crimes in recent history.

Sergio Marcial Sr., whose 10-year-old son and 22-year-old brother were killed in the attack, said he was relieved that the case was finally over, seven years after the June 30, 2006, killings.

“I’m glad we don’t have to come here any more and hear how they got murdered,” Marcial said. “It’s not healthy for us.”

Marcial’s 10-year-old and 12-year-old boys were riding their bicycles outside the family home under the watchful eye of their uncle Larry when two gunmen opened fire with AK-47 rifles.

Inside, Marcial thought he heard fireworks but was horrified when he looked out his front window. He saw one of the gunmen point the rifle directly at his 10-year-old son, David, on the ground and shoot the boy, Marcial testified earlier this year.

Marcial said he ran to grab his shotgun, but in the seconds it took him to hurry outside, the men had fled. David lay on the ground, not moving.

Among those slain were David, who loved soccer and making people laugh; his uncle Larry, an aspiring singer who had two young children; and Luis Cervantes, a 17-year-old neighbor who hoped to become a computer technician or police officer. Sergio Marcial Jr., 12, was seriously wounded.

The attack was one of several high-profile gang crimes that initially stoked fears among some of a possible race war. Witnesses described the gunmen as black; the victims were Latino.

But prosecutors argued that the motive for the killings had less to do with race and more with local gang rivalries. They argued Smith and another man, Ryan T. Moore, mistook the victims for rival gang members in a tit-for-tat feud over turf, drugs and pride. Moore was convicted during a separate trial and sentenced to death.

None of the victims had any gang connections.

Smith was also convicted of murdering Bani Hinojosa, a 27-year-old construction worker who was bringing home milk to his wife and children on March 31, 2006, when he was shot in the back.

Sergio Marcial Sr. said he lost his job as a truck driver after the 49th Street Massacre. He took several weeks off to deal with his son and brother’s killing and to help nurse his wounded son.

When he was ready to return to work, he said, he discovered that the firm he worked for had changed management and that he had been replaced. He is looking for work as a mechanic.

The case took multiple trials to resolve.

“It’s been tough,” said Maribel Marcial, Sergio Sr.’s sister. “It’s taken a toll on our family.”

She said Smith and Moore deserve the death penalty.

“They committed a vicious act toward children -- innocent children. My family were not gang members,” she said.

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