Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green and Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood announced the indictment by the Kern County Grand Jury of three people believed to be connected to a 2001 murder.

Cedric Sutton, Darnell Wheat and Dionna Williams were indicted on first degree murder charges with special circumstances and gang and firearm enhancements.

The three are alleged to have killed 37-year-old Maria Cruz Pina outside McDonald's in Rosamond in 2001.

Pina, who worked at the McDonald's, was abducted by two masked gunmen as she opened the restaurant for business the morning of August 11, 2001.

Pina was murdered by the gunmen during an attempted robbery and the gunmen escaped with the help of a driver who was parked nearby.

Sutton, Wheat and Williams are from Palmdale and were members of the East Coast Crips at the time of the murder.

The three were arraigned Wednesday at the Kern County Superior Court in downtown Bakersfield and the jury trial is scheduled to begin November 7th.