"Everybody deserves a second chance," he said. "My son lost his."
Detectives believe people are reluctant to provide information about the February 14 death of Leon Huddleston, 26, because they fear retribution by the Mongol Motorcycle Club, whose members are suspected in the slaying. "Any time you have gangs involved, whether it's motorcycle gangs or rival street gangs, it's extremely difficult to get people to come forward because of the fear of retaliation," Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Steve Lankford, the lead investigator on the case, told the Los Angeles Times in a story posted Saturday on the paper's Web site. Huddleston was shooting pool in a crowded Lancaster bar when he was cracked over the head with a pool cue and kicked repeatedly in the ribs by two men who appeared to be members of a motorcycle gang, authorities said. Huddleston's alleged killers are Norberto Jose Montes, who goes by the nickname "Villain," and Klint Austin Melcer, who goes by "Danger." Montes was arrested along with more than 60 other Mongols during a series of raids Tuesday across Southern California and in Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Ohio. Melcer remains at large. The slaying is one of four mentioned in a federal racketeering indictment that included charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, as well as gun and drug violations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials said.
Lankford, the lead investigator on the Huddleston case, said Montes and Melcer were identified as suspects based on a tip implicating the two Mongols from an informant who wasn't even in the bar the evening of the killing. That information was used as leverage to persuade a couple of witnesses to cooperate, he said.
Huddleston, a high school dropout from the Central Valley, was living in Lancaster to serve his probation on a drug conviction, according to his father, who asked not to be named because he was fearful of the Mongols. Huddleston's father said the loss was particularly painful because he believed his son was beginning to turn a corner in his life.