Charges Dropped Against One Suspect In Aquitania Murders

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Charges have been dropped against one of the three suspects in the 2007 murder case of a Sacramento man and his seven-month-old son.

Charges against Richard Noguera for the shooting deaths of Sean Aquitania, 21, and Sean Jr. were dropped because of insufficient evidence, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, which declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

Noguera, who did a jailhouse interview with CBS13 proclaiming his innocence, was arrested in Oct. 14, 2011.

"I can look at them physically in their eyes and tell them that I did not kill your child or your fiancé," he said a few days after his arrest. "I am not the killer."

His lawyer, Dan Brace, said Monday he wasn't surprised by the development.

"Because I know he wasn't there," Brace said. "Wasn't at the scene at all. He had nothing to do with this."

The district attorney's office said Noguera could be released from the Sacramento County Main Jail on Monday night, but Noguera's lawyer later told CBS13 that a paperwork snafu would keep Noguera in jail until Tuesday.

The news of Noguera's release surprised Benny Garcia, Aquitania's boxing coach.

"Scott free or what?" he asked. "At first it seems like they had all the evidence. Girlfriends telling on boyfriends, and now we got this? Something's wrong here."

The south Sacramento shooting occurred on Sept. 14, 2007. Aquitania and his baby son were gunned down after they arrived at a friend's home that was being targeted for a robbery, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives.

Two other suspects in the case remain in custody. Donald Ortez-Lucero, 27, was arrested in Oakland on Oct. 10 of last year. Christopher Strong, 28, was arrested in San Mateo on Jan. 19. They're scheduled to be in court March 23.