Walter Finch
FOUR defendants are facing life in jail for the 2018 execution-style slaying of a man in front of his family and friends after they had celebrated the communion of his youngest son.
David Avila, also known as Maradona, was brutally murdered moments after leaving church on May 12, in what police believe to be a drug-related hit.
The 36-year-old was shot at least five times by a black-clad assailant in a motorcycle helmet as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his car.
His wife and two children were getting into the back seats and a friend was getting into the passenger seat as the shots were fired, which killed Avila instantly.
The businessman, who owned Heaven Beach Club and a gym which both burned down before his death, was shot three times in the head, once in the chest and once in the shoulder.
The four accused are also on trial for a second murder, three months later, of Sofian Ahmed Barrak, known as ‘el Zocato’, as he came out of his house in an Estepona suburb at 3.32am on August 20.
One of the main defendants is alleged to have stepped out as Barrak was going to his car armed with a nine-millimetre automatic pistol.
The gunman riddled ‘el Zocato’ with bullets, shooting him nine times from close range and killing him instantly.
The assailant then fled on a motorcycle, where two security guards at a checkpoint attempted to stop him after hearing the shots.
But the assailant managed to escape after he levelled his pistol at them.
The four defendants are also charged with illegal possession of weapons and could face a further two years on top of life sentences with the possibility of parole.
Four alleged accomplices are also facing 12 years each behind bars for the involvement in the murders.
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