Pasco Man Shot Dead for Wearing Red, 15-Year-Old Boy Charged

For months the Tri-Cities mourned the death of 42-year-old Juan Melgoza shot dead in front of Fiesta Foods in Pasco by unknown gunmen. Now Christopher Pedroza-DeSantiago, 20, and Abraham Barajas, 15, have been charged with the murder. The reason they gave for shooting him? They didn't like his shirt.

Apparently on Feb. 4 Pedroza-DeSantiago ran into Melgoza in the Fiesta Foods parking lot and told him he needed to change his shirt because red represented a rival gang color. Melgoza refused and Pedroza-DeSantiago went home angry. According to his girlfriend, after stewing for a few minutes he called Barajas and the two drove together to the store where they waited for Melgoza to come out, arguing over who would pull the trigger.

Barajas told authorities he needed the opportunity to prove himself to the gang.

When Melgoza walked out of the store Pedroza-DeSantiago allegedly shot him in the back yelling the name of his gang.