Four gang members were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday for their roles in two armed robberies that resulted in the death of three people at lookout points in the Angeles National Forest and Rancho Palos Verdes in 2023.
A fifth defendant, also a gang member, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years to life in jail.
The defendants in the case were identified as Marco Antonio Hernandez, 21, Luis Ventura, 27, Abraham Alvarenga Cortez, 24, Rossel Jose Hernandez-Ponce, 24, and Wendy Sarai Cerritos, 23, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Hernandez was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts each of second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, prosecutors said.
Ventura and Cortez were found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a robbery. Ventura was the only defendant not facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Separately, Hernandez-Ponce and Cerritos were also convicted on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a robbery, authorities said.
The convictions and jail sentences stemmed from an incident on July 22, 2023 at 3:30 a.m. when Hernandez, Ventura and Cortez drove to the Angeles Crest National Forest where they found Jessie Enrique Munoz, 32, and a friend sitting in a vehicle. The three men held the two at gunpoint and robbed them. During the encounter Munoz “refused to turn over his car keys and put his vehicle in reverse” and was shot and killed by Cortez, according to prosecutors. The passenger in the vehicle was unharmed, court records show.
In another robbery two days later at 2 a.m., in the parking lot outside Terreanea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Cerritos, Hernandez-Ponce and Hernandez approached two people who were sitting in their vehicle, identified as Jorge Ramos, 36, and Taylorraven Whittaker, 26, and killed them after the victims refused to “hand over their valuables,” authorities said.
The defendants had been in custody since their arrests in late July and August 2023.
