A second man was charged with murder Thursday in connection with a Chatsworth street race that ended in a double-fatal crash.
Irael Valenzuela, 38, of Los Angeles, was arrested Wednesday, according to county inmate records. He was charged with two counts of murder and one count of engaging in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway causing a concussion, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Valenzuela appeared in San Fernando Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty.
He was suspected of being the driver of one of two cars involved in the Feb. 26 early morning race, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said. Valenzuela was being held on $2 million bail.
Jay Jaffe, an attorney for Valenzuela said the charge “if filed at all should have been filed as a vehicular manslaughter.”
Jaffe did not confirm that his client was driving.
Police had identified Henry Michael Gevorgyan as the 21-year-old man they suspected of driving a modified Ford Mustang that lost control in a business park near Plummer Street and Canoga Avenue and plowed into a crowd of race spectators.
The Mustang’s driver fled the wrecked vehicle on foot, while the second vehicle sped away.
Eric Siguenza, 26, and Wilson Thomas Wong, 50, were killed. A third man, 21-year-old Luis Antonio Gonzalez, was injured.
After turning himself in Sunday, Gevorgyan pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the same three counts faced by Valenzuela.
Gevorgyan’s lawyer and friends insisted that video from the race showed Gevorgyan was not behind the wheel of his car at the time of the crash.
Valenzuela was due back in court March 11.