Arraignment delayed again for ex-LAPD officer charged with murder in Pomona shooting

Arraignment for a former LAPD officer charged with killing a man outside a Pomona nightclub was delayed again Tuesday, to the disappointment of the victim’s family.

Henry Solis, 27, is charged with murder, assault with a firearm and an allegation that he discharged a handgun in the March 13 death of 23-year-old Salome Rodriguez Jr. outside a bar in Pomona.

His arraignment was rescheduled for July 17 and bail remains at $10 million. It was the third time the arraignment had been postponed.

Solis’ new attorneys, Joe Dane and Miranda McCroskey, taking over from a public defender, asked for a delay in the arraignment.

“We need to review the discovery before we can enter a plea,� Dane said. “We’ve met with him, and we’re anticipating looking at the discovery and reviewing it completely before we move forward.�

At least a dozen family members and friends of Rodriguez’s turned out for the arraignment, some wearing rosaries in remembrance of the young man who always carried a rosary. When the bearded Solis, in an orange jumpsuit, entered, Rodriguez’s family members whispered his arrival.

“I’m just kind of upset seeing Henry Solis. ... I thought today was going to be the day, guilty or not guilty,� his mother, Lidia Rodriguez, said as she wiped away tears. “The hardest thing is we have to keep on seeing him, and my son is not here.�

Solis remained mostly quiet in the courtroom, but when he briefly laughed with his new counsel, Rodriguez’s family noticed.

“I thought a person that would kill — and if he felt guilty — he wouldn’t be laughing,� Lidia Rodriguez said. “I think that’s wrong. ... I felt like he doesn’t feel nothing.�

She was joined by attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the Rodriguez family. Allred said the focus right now remains on the criminal case. “We’ll see what other options they want to exercise in the future.�

Solis was taken into custody May 26 in Mexico after a two-month manhunt that began when he fled California following the fatal shooting of Rodriguez.

Authorities say Solis got into a brawl with Rodriguez outside a bar, then chased him down and fatally shot him multiple times.

Solis, who had been an LAPD officer for nine months, was off-duty at the time.

Hours after Rodriguez was gunned down, Pomona police publicly identified Solis as a person of interest, circulating a flier with his photo and information about his missing car.

The rookie officer didn’t show up for work the next day, LAPD officials said.

Authorities allege that Solis abandoned his Volkswagen Jetta not far from the scene and called his father for help.

Officials said surveillance video showed Victor Solis walking with his son across the border into Mexico. The elder Solis later was arrested and charged with lying to federal investigators in an attempt to help hide his son.

An FBI agent investigating Henry Solis said the former Marine was hiding out in Juarez, a border city in Chihuahua state. Solis grew a beard, stayed indoors and avoided using cellphones or social media. His aunts, uncles and cousins helped move him from house to house, the agent said.

But Mexican authorities eventually arrested him, and he was deported to Texas.

If convicted of the charges, Solis faces life in prison.

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