H.B. man pleads not guilty to murder in beating death of homeless man in Westminster

A Huntington Beach man suspected in the beating death of a homeless man in Westminster is awaiting a Sept. 9 court date after pleading not guilty to murder and other charges, according to court and jail records.

Christian Huerta, 19, was arrested June 23 and was booked at Orange County Jail with bail set at $1.015 million, records show. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 9 to charges of murder, attempted murder and participating in criminal street gang activity, court records show. He also denied two sentencing enhancement allegations of criminal street gang activity and one of inflicting great bodily injury.

Officials found the body of 45-year-old Duc Le after a man was reported down and bleeding on Locust Street, south of Westminster Boulevard, shortly after 10 p.m. June 20, Westminster police said in a news release.

Investigators determined that Le, who was known to sleep in the area, was assaulted by four men who then dumped his body there.

Three suspects have been arrested: Huerta, Andrew Holguin, 21, of Midway City and a 16-year-old Westminster resident. The latter is not being named because of his age.

A fourth man, Jeffrey Andrade, 18, of Westminster, is on the run, according to police.

Andrade is described as Latino, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and around 170 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

A motive in the killing remains unclear, detectives said. Anyone with information about the case or Andrade’s whereabouts can call Westminster police at (714) 548-3212. Anonymous tips may be submitted at (855) 847-6227 or occrimestoppers.org.

Luke Money is a Daily Pilot staff writer.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.