FAMILY RELIEVED BY ARREST

CRIME: Chad MacDonald's mother is pleased that the last of the three
suspects in his death is off the streets.

The arrest of the third suspect in the slaying of Yorba Linda teen-ager Chad
MacDonald has left his family feeling gratitude toward one law enforcement
organization and frustration with another.

"Cindy is taking a sigh of relief that those killers are off the street,"
said Lloyd Charton, who represents Cindy MacDonald, Chad's mother. "It's a
day of gratitude for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department."

Charton said he wants to meet with Brea police - who used MacDonald as a
drug informant - before he decides whether to file a civil claim. Charton
said he is considering an "outrageous conduct" lawsuit against the Brea police.

"I've begged (the Brea police), but they won't talk to me," Charton said.
"I'm going to get to the truth. I will find out exactly what they did to
this boy."

Brea police would not comment on the case, but have said the 17-year-old was
not working for them when he was killed.

Saturday, a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department task force arrested Jose
Alfredo Ibarra, 19 of Norwalk. Ibarra is the third suspect charged in the
death of MacDonald, whose mother has said his work as a police drug
informant led to his death.

Florence Lela Noriega, 28, and Michael Lucas Martinez, 21, were arrested
March 7 in connection with the case. A sheriff's spokesman would not outline
the specific roles investigators belive Ibara, Noriega and Martinex played
in the slaying.

MacDonald's body was found March 3 in a south Los Angeles alley after he had
gone to a Norwalk house to buy drugs, deputies said. MacDonald and his
mother agreed for him to enter the drug informant program in exchange for a
lesser sentence on an earlier drug charge.

Ibarra could be arraigned as early as today. Noriega is scheduled for a
court hearing Wednesday, Martinez is still being held in Las Vegas, where he
was arrested.