LOS ANGELES - A standout Los Angeles High School football player was targeted by a gang member and shot to death just feet from his home solely because he was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack, a prosecutor told jurors today.

Pedro Espinoza is accused in the March 2, 2008, shooting death of 17- year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr., who was killed in the 2100 block of Fifth Avenue in Arlington Heights while talking with his girlfriend on the phone.

During opening statements of Espinoza's trial, Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace told the six-man, six-woman jury that Shaw's Spider-Man backpack drew Espinoza's attention.

"That was enough for Pedro Espinoza to figure in his head that Jamiel Shaw was a possible enemy of (his gang)," Grace said. "Pedro Espinoza would not let this opportunity pass."

The prosecutor said the shooting occurred shortly after Espinoza approached Shaw and asked him the traditional gang inquiry, "Where are you from?"

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