LOS ANGELES, Calif. —  Three star witnesses were no shows at Monday’s inquest into the deadly shooting of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, resulting in little new information revealed to the public.


What You Need To Know

  • Deputy Miguel Vega, who shot and killed the teenager, was out of the country on the first day of the inquest

  • His partner, Christopher Hernandez, submitted a written declaration

  • Two other deputies tasked with investigating the shooting as a homicide invoked their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination

  • A store manager who claimed to witness the shooting was unable to be found

The coroner’s inquest is the first of its kind in 39 years, with retired judge Candace Cooper poised to make findings in the “manner and mode” of death of the teenager killed by Deputy Miguel Vega on June 18.

Deputy Vega was reportedly out of the country Monday, despite a subpoena to testify under oath at the inquest. Cooper said the inquest would resume when he returned to the United States, though he is likely to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Vega’s partner, Chris Hernandez, did not appear at the hearing either but did invoke the Fifth Amendment through a submitted a written declaration.

Hernandez’ declaration said the deputies instructed Guardado to drop his gun and subsequently opened fire when he reached for the firearm. Two first responders testified a handgun was laying three to five feet away from Guardado’s body when they arrived on the scene.

The coroner’s autopsy found the teen had been shot five times in the back, and did not rule out the possibility Guardado was on his knees or lying on the ground when he was shot.

Two other deputies called to testify on the investigation Monday refused to answer even basic questions about their jobs and responsibilities. Instead, they invoked the Fifth Amendment.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Detective Joseph Valencia and Detective Mike Davis did so on the advice of their private legal counsel, not the department’s.

“The Sheriff did not instruct anyone to invoke or plead the Fifth Amendment. Any decisions they make are under the advice of personal legal counsel,” the department said in a statement to Spectrum News 1.

The spectacle shocked L.A. Taco reporter Guillermo Torres, who testified regarding his reporting days after the shooting. 

 

“I mean, it’s their job to investigate and report their findings,” Torres said in an interview with Spectrum News 1. “That was very strange and that was the more shocking part.”

Torres interviewed key witness, Andrew Haney. Haney told Torres he saw the shooting and the teenager was unarmed when he was shot and killed. Haney also told Torres deputies destroyed surveillance cameras that may have captured the shooting. Haney was also subpoenaed to testify but did not appear at the hearing.

“Who knows what happened to him. He might be hiding,” Torres said.

Torres, who usually works on the business side of the alternative publication, said he just wanted to shine a light on a story few major outlets were covering when he went to the scene. Now that he has testified in the historic inquest, he is still waiting to see what exactly he uncovered.