Dennis RomeroOne of the suspects accused of killing two USC grad students last month says on his Facebook page that he attends arch-rival school UCLA.
Bryan Barnes says he attends UCLA and that he was scheduled to graduate with the class of 2014. This comes as the Los Angeles Times reported that he and suspect Javier Bolden were affiliated with a party crew called “No Respect Inc.” that they promoted on their Facebook pages.
In fact, the two were tied to …
… shooting a man at a Dec. 3 party in South L.A., according to charges filed by the District Attorney's office. Barnes was charged solo for another party shooting Feb. 12 in South L.A.
'Me N Javiie At Da Hotel Function!!!'; Credit: Bryan Barnes / Facebook
LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon told the paper that shell casings from both attacks matched those found at the scene of the April 11 shooting deaths of Ming Qu and Ying Wu about a mile from campus. Both victims were 23.
Prosecutors say the homicide was committed during a robbery. Detectives reportedly tracked a signal from a stolen cellphone to one of the suspects.
On Facebook Barnes calls himself Bryan NoRespect Barnes. He says he's from Los Angeles and Compton and that he graduated from Jordan High School near Watts.
His page includes at least one flyer for a No Respect party crew:
Credit: Bryan Barnes / Facebook
Fox 11 News said last night that No Respect was one of the groups that organized events it covered as part of a series on underground parties and nitrous oxide-dealing it has been airing this spring.
Party crews often organize house events and even underground raves. In some cases they act as quasi gangs, and some even evolved into gangs in the 1990s.
Cops told the Times that although the duo flashed Black P Stones gang signs, the two were not active gangsters.
Rather they're described as party boys who like to post photos of girls on their social media pages.
If convicted of the murders with the special circumstance of robbery the duo could be eligible for the death penalty.
[Update at 11:41 p.m.]: A UCLA spokesman says there's no record of Barnes ever having attended UCLA, so it's just a claim.
Maybe Barnes just likes the football team.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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