Mother of Slain Informant Sues Cities

The mother of a Yorba Linda teen slain after being enlisted to work as a drug informant for the Brea Police Department has filed a $10-million wrongful-death suit against the cities of Brea and Yorba Linda, her attorney said Friday.

Cindy MacDonald, the mother of Chad MacDonald, filed the suit Thursday in Orange County Superior Court. Along with the two cities, the suit names the Brea Police Department, Police Chief William C. Lentini, Detective James Griffen and several officers as defendants.

“The lawsuit has been filed by Cindy MacDonald to make sure that the Brea Police Department and police officers everywhere are sent a clear message,” attorney Lloyd Charton said at a Friday morning press conference. “The message is that a child’s life is more important than making drug arrests.”

Brea City Atty. James L. Markman did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday. Yorba Linda City Atty. Leonard Hampel and Lentini also could not be reached.

Charton has alleged that MacDonald’s role as a police informant led to his being labeled a snitch and eventually to his death. But Brea police, which provides law enforcement for neighboring Yorba Linda, have said that the 17-year-old had been relieved of his informant duties weeks before his slaying and he went to a suspected Norwalk drug house on his own.

MacDonald, who agreed to work as an informant after being arrested for possession of methamphetamine in January, was found tortured and strangled in a South Los Angeles alley March 3, the same day his 16-year-old girlfriend was found in the Angeles National Forest. She had been raped and shot in the jaw.

Suspects Michael Martinez, 21, Florence Noriega, 28, and Jose Ibarra, 19, all of Norwalk, have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 9.