Pasco teen looking at guilty plea in 2015 fatal shooting

A Pasco teen is looking at pleading guilty to amended charges in the 2015 death of a man in the Fiesta Foods parking lot.

Abraham Barajas, 16, was in Franklin County Superior Court on Tuesday for a judge to decide if he should be tried as an adult.

Instead, Deputy Prosecutor Kim Kremer told the court that she and Barajas’ attorney, Karyn Oldfield, had come to an agreement to keep the case in Juvenile Court.

Barajas is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder for the death of Juan C. Melgoza, 42, of Pasco.

Since he was charged last May, Oldfield has been investigating the teen’s background and the current allegations and preparing her defense.

Kremer told Judge Cameron Mitchell that the amended charges will be filed before Barajas’ next court appearance later this month. She did not disclose what those charges will be.

The prosecutor also noted that Barajas has agreed that he will face between four years and three months and five years and four months in a state juvenile institution. That means Barajas could be locked up until his 21st birthday.

On Feb. 4, 2015, Barajas allegedly met up with friend and fellow gang member, Chris Pedroza-DeSantiago, and agreed to kill Melgoza because the victim was wearing a rival color.

The two suspects argued about who would pull the trigger before Pedroza-DeSantiago took the gun out, walked past Melgoza in the Pasco grocery store lot, turned and shot him in the back, court documents show.

Barajas was 15 at the time. He told investigators he participated because he needed to “put in work” for his gang or he believed he would be kicked out and beaten up.

Pedroza-DeSantiago allegedly yelled their gang’s name as he fired several times at Melgoza.

Pedroza-DeSantiago, 20, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful gun possession.

He appeared in a separate courtroom Tuesday, but his hearing was continued one week because the judge assigned to the case was out.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Pasco teen looking at guilty plea in 2015 fatal shooting."