Trial begins in murder of Camden boy

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, April, 2008 | by Troy Graham Inquirer Staff Writer

After 12-year-old Pedro Molina was gunned down over a cheap radio, his mother said, she looked out her window and saw the boy's shooter. But was that man Jessie Sepulveda? "He was reloading his gun under the light pole," said Molina's mother, Olga Rodriguez, gesturing toward Sepulveda, whose trial opened yesterday in Superior Court in Camden.

Molina's death, in October 2004, galvanized Camden at a time of rising crime, sparking a protest march and the kind of community soul-searching that takes place whenever an innocent dies violently. Yet no one came forward with information for nearly a month until, finally, police got the tip that led to Sepulveda and another man, David Gomez. Sepulveda's trial began with Rodriguez taking the stand and prosecutor Greg Smith showing her...