Gang member who was 17 and tried as a minor for murder is now charged in connection to another murder

LOS ANGELES, CA - Five years ago, a 17-year-old gang member was charged as a minor for her role in a double murder and now she has been charged again for her connection with another murder.

According to Fox News, Shanice Dyer, a member of the East Coast Crips, was convicted of murdering Alfredo Carrera and his friend, José Flores Velázquez simply because they were standing in the gang's territory. FOX 11 reported that neither man was gang-affiliated. Carrera was about to become a father and Velázquez was a student at UCI and had just accepted a job with NASA before being murdered. 

At the time of the murder, Dyer was charged with premeditated murder by then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey and was set to be tried as an adult. However, that all changed when George Gascón took over office in 2020.

In a statement, Michelle Hanisee, the Association of Deputy District Attorneys President in Los Angeles County said, "The public needs to know what's going on. One of the many blanket policies Gascón implemented on his first day in office was that no crime committed by a juvenile — no matter the circumstances — would ever be transferred to adult court." As a result of this policy, Dyer was tried as a juvenile and despite being convicted for two murders, she was in custody for less than four years.

Dyer has now been accused of murdering someone once again by allegedly aiding and abetting in the murder of 21-year-old Joshua Streeter. Retired Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Cady, who is now a victim's advocate, said in a statement, "George Gascón refuses to take responsibility for the fact that his policies have led to this murder. He hides behind explanations that don't make sense." 

Cynthia Carerra, Alfredo's sister said, "Gascón's reform aimed to rehabilitate and give people a second change, but since the incident, no one has ever reached out to the victims. No one has ever asked, 'What can we do for you?'" She added, "It's still very hard and now we find out that this person has committed another crime, doing this to yet another family."

Gascón's office released a statement saying, "Our heart breaks for the victim and his family. This is an unimaginable tragedy. However, it is very unlikely that Ms. Dyer would have been transferred under any administration. Under the law, there are five factors that a juvenile court would have considered and weighed in determining if Ms. Dyer were amenable to remain in the juvenile system. Of those five factors, only one factor, the circumstances and gravity of the offense, weighed in favor of transfer to adult court.

All other factors weighed in favor of Ms. Dyer remaining in the juvenile system. Given this, it is highly unlikely that Ms. Dyer would have been transferred to the adult system even if the court had held a transfer hearing."

The four other factors, according to the spokesperson, are that Dyer was under the influence of adult men and acted at their direction, which indicates that she did not exhibit a high degree of criminal sophistication; that she lacked any serious criminal history at the time; the amount of time and opportunity that remained at that time to rehabilitate her in the juvenile system and the absence of any previous opportunities to rehabilitate her in the juvenile system.

In March of 2022, the district attorney's Juvenile Alternative Charging Evaluation Committee (JACE) was formed. Since then, 23 transfer requests have been approved for transfer motions to adult court by JACE. The approved cases include five transfer motions that have gone to hearings before the juvenile court, four that were denied by the court, one that was granted by the court, and one that is still in progress.