TEENS CHARGED WITH MURDER IN HALLOWEEN DEATH

Two purported gangsters have been charged with first-degree murder in
the Halloween night beating and stabbing death of 15-year-old Bernardo
Alfonso Repreza on State Street in Salt Lake City.

Colin C. Reesor, 17, and Andrew D. Moench, 18, were charged in 3rd
District Court on Thursday, and if convicted would face a sentence of
up to life in prison. Both suspects are being held in Salt Lake County
Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The stabbing occurred after a group of about 30 teens, many of them
Straight Edge gang members, taunted motorists on the corner of 100 S.
State St. on Saturday night.

When two cars stopped at the traffic light at 100 South, an
altercation ensued. Jaynell Latay Cooper, who was in the front
passenger seat of one of the cars, began to argue with members of the
Straight Edge group. Cooper got out of his car and began to fight some
members of the group. Meanwhile, Repreza and a couple of other males
jumped out of their car. Members of the Straight Edge group then
attacked Cooper and Repreza. Cooper was stabbed in the thigh and
beaten over the head. Repreza attempted to jump back in the second
car, but it left without him.

Several people chased Repreza down the street and beat him with
various weapons. Moench began to beat him in the head with a bat,
knocking him unconscious. Reesor then stabbed the victim in the
abdomen, charges state. While leaving the scene, Reesor told his
friends, ``I can't believe I stabbed that guy,'' charges state.

Repreza was transported to the hospital, where he died. Cooper did not
suffer life-threatening injuries.

Repreza's friends at Granite Park Junior High said he was a fun-loving
teen who was a good student and was proud of his Latino heritage. They
added that he was never a member of any street gang, but sometimes
hung out with members. Even though the fight between the white
Straight Edgers and Repreza and Cooper, an African-American, was
filled with racial taunts and epithets, Salt Lake City police
officials said this was not a hate crime. Straight Edge is a mostly
white, middle-class gang whose tatooed and pierced members generally
confine themselves to punk-rock concerts and clean living. Straight
Edgers do not drink, smoke or take drugs. They also preach against sex
outside marriage.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry