Wedding crashers who allegedly killed California groom have been charged with murder
Two men who police said crashed a wedding and then beat the groom to death have been charged with murder.
Rony Castaneda Ramirez, 28, and his 19-year-old brother Josue Castaneda Ramirez were arrested and booked into West Valley Detention Center after allegedly killing newlywed Joe Melgoza hours after he got married on Sunday in Chino, California, according to local police.
The two pleaded not guilty, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, who filed the criminal complaint on Tuesday.
Melgoza, 30, suffered blunt force trauma to his head during a fight that broke out in the early hours Sunday, police said. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but did not survive.
Police were initially called to the scene in Chino around 2:20 a.m. regarding a fight and found two people, not including Melgoza, who sustained minor injuries, according to a news release from Chino police.
The Ramirez brothers attacked the two other injured men with a baseball bat, the criminal complaint states.
Witnesses told police that another person who was involved in the fight, later identified as Melgoza, was missing.
Officers canvassed the area and found him a block away, police said. A criminal complaint did not list a weapon used on Melgoza.
Chino police Sgt. Dustin Tomicic told ABC News the suspects were not invited guests at the wedding and had been asked to leave at some point.
Police said the two men were also "not known to those at the wedding reception."
Melgoza's brother, Matthew Velasquez, told ABC Los Angeles station KABC that the family wants justice.
"We want justice for my brother and I hope these two individuals never see the light of day," he said.
Witnesses told the station that the two men were allegedly looking for alcohol when they arrived.
ABC News could not reach attorneys for either Ramirez brother.
Their preliminary hearing date is scheduled for Dec. 30.
