Prosecutors filed murder and other charges against two Monrovia men who are accused of shooting a Los Angeles man to death during a drug deal and robbery that turned violent in Pasadena last week, authorities said.
Lamarr Marquise McDaniels, 24, and Trevor James Dorman, 19, are suspected in the Aug. 9 shooting of 24-year-old Anthony Michael Tafoya Ortiz in the 100 block of Painter Street, the Pasadena Police Department said in a written statement.
Dorman was arrested Thursday night in Covina by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force and Pasadena police, officials said. McDaniels was taken into custody on the afternoon of Aug. 10 in Monrovia.
Police responded to reports of a shooting shortly before 11 a.m. Aug. 9 when they found Ortiz lying wounded in the carport area of an apartment complex, police said.
“The investigation has revealed victim Ortiz was shot after a planned robbery and drug deal went awry,” according to the police statement. Investigators declined to discuss the alleged arrangement in detail.
Ortiz clung to life at a hospital for two days before he succumbed to his wounds on Aug. 12, according to police and Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner records. An autopsy determined he died from a “gunshot wound of the abdomen.”
McDaniels, who faces charges of murder, assault with a firearm, attempted robbery and conspiracy, was being held without bail pending legal proceedings, according to police and Los Angeles County booking records. Bail for Dorman, who is charged with murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy, was initially set at $110,000 when he was arrested on Aug. 10, but increased to $3 million after the victim died and the case became a homicide.
