SANTA ANA – Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26 for a 26-year-old man who pleaded guilty to a fatal robbery of a 15-year-old in a Santa Ana park four years ago. The man has already been convicted of a felony.

Juan Sotelo Gatica pleaded guilty Friday to one count of attempted robbery, five counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and one count of possession of a firearm as a felon. He also admitted that the sentence was enhanced because of gang activity.

Gatica was originally charged with murder and was also charged with robbery due to special circumstances.

Co-defendant Daniel Contreras is on the run.

The victim, 15-year-old Rodrigo Aguilar, went to El Salvador Park at 1825 W. Civic Center Drive with five of his friends on March 25, 2020, to play basketball, prosecutors said in court documents.

At some point, the group went to a snack bar and shared a marijuana cigarette, prosecutors said. Gatica and Contreras walked by and Gatica felt the youths were being “disrespectful” to his gang, prosecutors said.

As the teens left the park and walked to their car, they were confronted by the defendants, prosecutors said.

When the victims were asked to empty their pockets, one of the teens punched Gatica in the face, prosecutors said. The teen struck a few more times, knocking Gatica unconscious, prosecutors said.

The other teens got into an argument with Contreras and then ran away, prosecutors said. Shots were fired and Aguilar was shot in the back and killed, prosecutors said.