3 Men Ordered to Stand Trial in 2024 Bel-Air Robbery and Miguel Aguilar Murder
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 11
3 Men Ordered to Stand Trial in 2024 Bel-Air Robbery and Miguel Aguilar Murder
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jul 11
Summary
Los Angeles County Judge Curtis Rappe found enough evidence for Jason Melara, Mahki Taylor and Daymonee Johnson to face trial on robbery, assault and murder charges in Miguel Angel Aguilar’s 2024 shooting.
Prosecutors said four men drove about 500 miles from Oakland to Los Angeles to commit robberies, followed Aguilar home from a West Hollywood lunch and confronted him and his wife at gunpoint outside their Bel-Air house.
Aguilar, 43, drew a legally carried handgun and exchanged fire with the robbers, fatally wounding Mario Melara before suffering a neck wound that left him hospitalized for three months until his death on Dec. 21, 2024.
Detectives tied the suspects to the crime with surveillance footage from the getaway to a hospital and testimony that Taylor later admitted he shot Aguilar after Aguilar shot Mario Melara.
Prosecutors also charged the three in Mario Melara’s death under a felony-murder theory, arguing the armed ambush created an "atmosphere of death" that made a lethal response foreseeable.