Sad Boy Loko Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder: Report

Nearly one year after being arrested for attempted murder, robbery and assault on Aug. 3, 2018, Sad Boy Loko has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to a report the Santa Barbara Independent published on Wednesday (June 19), Sad Boy, born Mario Hernandez Pacheco, is being accused of punching, kicking and stabbing a 19-year-old victim in Santa Barbara, Calif. after stealing his backpack, which was filled with marijuana, acid, mushrooms and ecstasy.

The charges stem from a July 22, 2018 incident in which the victim, described as AS (to protect his identity), along with two minors were driving around trying to sell AS' backpack full of drugs. While cruising, they allegedly picked up Sad Boy and drove to a convenience store where he bought Swisher Sweets cigarillos for the minors. They then drove to a location to meet another male identified as Yellow Shirt. Yellow Shirt is alleged to have robbed AS at knifepoint, and once AS threatened to call the police, Sad Boy, the two minors and Yellow Shirt allegedly beat AS and left him with significant injuries.

After being beaten, AS was rushed to a local hospital where he stayed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for three days to recover. According to a detective, AS identified Sad Boy as one of the three suspects who attacked him. The minors were arrested for the charges at their respective homes one day after Sad Boy was picked up. Yellow Shirt remains at large.

During the hearing, Sad Boy's attorneys, Adam Pearlman and J'Aimee Oxton, contested that there was no digital or physical forensic evidence linking the rapper to the crime. Pearlman called the identification process suspect and said there were discrepancies in the detective's timing of events. Pearlman noted that Sad Boy made two phone calls at 12:02 a.m. and 12:19 a.m., during the time the alleged crime took place.

Pearlman, who emphasized that Sad Boy cooperated with authorities, also notes that, although AS described the man he believes to be Sad Boy as being heavy-set, the rapper was actually a slight 5 feet, 8 inches and 140 pounds at the time he was arrested last year. Sad Boy's attorneys also stated that nothing from the California rapper's residence or vehicle linked him back to the crime.

Judge James Herman said that although Sad Boy wasn't the main assailant in the attack, "It's clear that [the attack] was a gang group effort."

Sad Boy's been denied bail for the case and he will remain in custody. His next court date is scheduled for July 26.

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