On July 12th, 2014 a 911 operator for the Pasadena PD, received a call, and the caller said “I killed someone”.
There were several 911 calls being reported by fearful neighbors that claimed that they heard around 15 gun shots at around 4:20 p.m. on the 1700 block of Summit Avenue that day.
According to the original report, a suspect shot and killed three victims. One of the victims was shot inside a residence in the neighborhood. After the first victim was shot, two women ran out of the house. The suspect chased after them, shooting at them multiple times and struck one of the victims in front of the house. A neighbor came to the shot victim’s aid, but was then shot by the suspect as well. The two victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Two people endured bullet wounds that were not life-threatening and were treated at a local hospital
The killed victims were identified as Luis Fernando, 90, Maria Teresa Aguilar, 59, and Joseph Hernandez Iribe, 29.
At a press conference on the next Monday after the shooting, the officer that aided the victim was shot by the gunman and ran back into the residence. Police did not fire at the gunman because they did not have a clear shot at him. They believed that the motive for the shooting was because of a landlord dispute.
Officers claimed that the suspect shot at least 40 rounds at other neighbors and officers reporting to the same. However, nobody was hit by the rapid fire.
The suspect then barricaded himself inside the residence, where he called 911 to surrender to police.
The suspect was identified as John Izeal Smith. He was charged with “two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of second-degree murder, attempted murder and assault with an assault weapon on a peace officer,” the report stated.
On Thursday, December 22, 2016, he pleaded guilty after previously claiming “not guilty” during the first trial in 2014.
Smith faces a life sentence of 181 years in prison. His sentencing decision will take place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Burbank branch on February 1, 2017.
