Three people, including two teenagers, appeared briefly in court Monday after being charged in connection with the death of a Downey police officer who was fatally shot during what investigators have described as a botched robbery.
The youngest of the three, 16-year-old Abel Diaz of Bellflower, was charged Friday as an adult with one count of murder in connection to the death of Officer Ricardo “Ricky” Galvez.
Two others, brothers Steven Knott, 18, and Jeremy Anthony Alvarez, 21, were also charged in the case Monday. For all three suspects, charges were amended Monday to include both murder and attempted second-degree robbery, along with other allegations.
The trio appeared in a courtroom in Downey Monday afternoon, when their arraignment was postponed till Dec. 17. Prosecutors planned to ask that they be held without bail, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Galvez, a five-year veteran of the police force and former U.S. Marine, had just returned from an off-site training shift when sheriff’s officials say Diaz and Knott approached him Wednesday night.
“It looks like these guys were out looking for somebody to rob,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Corina said the following day.
During the attempted robbery, Galvez was fatally shot and the two suspects fled in a vehicle driven by Alvarez, according to sheriff’s officials.
Investigators do not believe the three knew they were near the Downey Police Department station or that Galvez, who was in plainclothes and sitting in his personal vehicle, was an officer.
The suspects admitted to investigators that they were trying to rob Galvez, Corina told the Los Angeles Times on Friday.
Detectives were also investigating if the three were connected to string of recent robberies in Bellflower, Downey and Lakewood, he added.
The defendants’ family members and friends came to the Downey courthouse Monday in support of the three young men.
“Steven was a good guy. He was making music,” Knott’s friend Manny Rodriguez said. “We were going on tour. … I know he probably didn’t do it.”
Diaz’s sister, Maricela Alvarado, had repeatedly proclaimed her brother’s innocence on Friday, saying Knott was the shooter.
On Monday, Knott’s and Alvarez’s sister, Suzette Mendoza, teared up outside the courthouse.
“It’s not just one — it’s two of them that we’re losing,” Mendoza said. “My brothers are good kids, and they’re not what they’re portrayed to be. They were just in the wrong place in the wrong time.”
Investigators have not said who they suspect shot the officer.
All three suspects were charged Monday with one count of special circumstance murder and one count of attempted second-degree robbery. A new criminal complaint filed Monday alleges the special circumstance that the murder occurred during an attempted robbery, the DA’s office said.
Gun and gang allegations were also made against all three defendants.
Knott and Alvarez could face the death penalty. Diaz, the juvenile, faces up to life in state prison.
Galvez’s funeral was scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 30 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. A rosary service and viewing was set for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Downey Civic Theatre.
Correction: Suzette Mendoza’s first name was incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this article. The report also included footage from a music video that was said to feature Steven Knott and Jeremy Alvarez. KTLA could not confirm that the brothers appeared in the video. The post has been updated.
