SAN DIEGO -- Three men -- two of whom were already behind bars -- now face murder, conspiracy and other charges stemming from a gang-related car-to- car shooting on Interstate 8 in La Mesa that killed 22-year-old man three years ago.
Xusha Brown Jr., a member of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, was shot in the head when someone inside a silver or light-gray sedan opened fire on the Nissan Maxima in which he was a passenger on eastbound Interstate 8 near state Route 125 in the early morning hours of May 5, 2013. A bullet struck him in the head, and another hit the Nissan's driver in the arm.
At a mid-morning briefing, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and other law enforcement officials announced that Donte Jerome Haddock, 25, of San Diego, Alaeante Akila Eason, 26, of Humbolt and Anthony Constantine Frank, 25, were arrested Wednesday following a two-year multi- agency investigation.
All three face charges of murder, attempted premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder, with an allegation that the murder was carried out to benefit a criminal street gang.
Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a gang feud between the suspects and the driver of the Nissan. Brown was not believed to have any such affiliations and was not the target of the gunfire.
"Mr. Brown, who was not a gang member, was an unintended victim of the gang feud," La Mesa police Chief Walt Vasquez said.
Haddock was arrested in Las Vegas and is awaiting extradition to San Diego, Dumanis said. Frank was re-arrested while serving a 20-year prison term for the murder of a rival gang member in El Cajon.
Eason is in local custody on suspicion of pandering and human trafficking of a minor, Dumanis said. He's scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge in a downtown courtroom this afternoon.
Sheriff Bill Gore, who also heads the East County Regional Gang Task Force, said search warrants were also served in Humboldt, Phoenix and Las Vegas during the investigation.
