Authorities say gang leader fatally stabbed two

 

man described by authorities as a high-ranking member of a violent prison gang has been charged in the stabbing deaths of a man and woman who were found dead inside a burning Oakland apartment last month, authorities said Friday. The Oakland Tribune reports that Henry Cervantes was being without bail after being charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Johnny Gilbert Navaerette, 73, and Renee Washington, 56. Investigators believe Cervantes, 47, killed Navaerette and Washington on Sept. 11 because he thought they had injured a relative of his at the apartment. The nature of the relative's injuries was not clear, but police said the injuries were sustained in an accident. The name of the relative has not been released. Cervantes had stayed at the apartment occasionally, a link that led to his arrest, according to Oakland police officer Phong Tran. Cervantes was serving a 10-year prison sentence for gang activities when he pleaded guilty in 2004 to conspiracy charges over an aborted plot that authorities say he directed from prison to try to kill two Santa Clara County district attorneys who prosecuted gang members. Cervantes, who had been released from prison in April 2010, was arrested Sept. 29 in connection with the stabbing deaths while he was on his way to see his probation officer.

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