Boy, 15, gets probation in shootings

Bill Gang

Friday, Aug. 6, 1999 | 11:19 a.m.

Matthew Cumplido, a 15-year-old boy who joined his father in a retaliatory rampage that resulted in the shotgun slayings of two men, has been given probation.

But the sentence of probation was not given until the teenager reluctantly admitted to District Judge Sally Loehrer that it is possible, "but not a real likelihood," that the victims weren't part of the group that had vandalized the Cumplido family's property and shot at their home.

The teenager had pleaded guilty in May to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon for his lesser role in the deadly confrontation on Feb. 20.

It was his father, Gustavo Cumplido, who wielded a 12-gauge shotgun from the back of a pickup truck and killed two of three men he believed had fired shots at his house.

The 36-year-old father apparently was trying to protect his family from the repeated vandalism.

Gustavo Cumplido has pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in a plea bargain that will send him to prison for 20 years before he will be eligible for parole.

His son admitted he fired shots during the incident near Pecos and Bonanza roads, although it is unclear whether any of the bullets hit the victims.

Despite his age, Matthew Cumplido faced the possibility of up to six years in prison for his role in the confrontation that left 17-year-old Elroy Numez and Carlos Lopez dead.

Both were shot with a shotgun, but Matthew Cumplido only admitted firing a .25-caliber pistol.

At Thursday's sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Bill Koot didn't oppose probation with strict supervision providing the teenager "acknowledges he did something wrong."

Defense attorney Steve Wolfson described the teenager as "a good kid" who has already spent 80 days behind bars awaiting trial and would not benefit from a prison term.

After Matthew Cumplido grudgingly conceded there may have been mistaken identities, Loehrer placed him on five-years probation under intensive supervision.

She also ordered the defendant to complete his last three years of high school and perform 16 hours of community service each month.

Loehrer explained she was ordering intensive supervision because at 15, "his five most dangerous years are ahead of him."

But she said he could apply for early release from probation if he attends college after high school.

Although Gustavo Cumplido admitted he fired the fatal shots, he said he only was firing at a moving vehicle with people inside.

Three other family members in the truck with the defendants had faced charges, but those charges were dropped because they were not involved in the actual gunfire.

It was alleged the shooting incident was in retaliation for repeated vandalism, a car theft and drive-by shootings at the Cumplido family home near Pecos Road and Stewart Avenue.

Several police reports had been filed but no arrests were made. The lack of success by law enforcement in quelling the problem was expected to have been a large part of the defense had the case gone to trial.