| For Immediate Release Case # 02NF3143
July 11, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR
KILLING FAMILY BUSINESS MAN IN
MURDER-FOR-HIRE CONSPIRACY
SANTA ANA – A gang member was sentenced today to receive the death penalty for the special circumstances murder of a family business man after recruiting three lower level gang members to help him in a murder-for-hire conspiracy. Anthony Navarro, 41, Canyon Country, was found guilty on Oct. 18, 2007, of one felony count of murder with allegations for committing murder during the commission of another felony and murder committed to benefit a criminal street gang. He was also convicted of one felony count of conspiracy to commit a crime and one felony count of street terrorism. The sentencing enhancement for murder committed by gang members with a firearm was found true. A jury recommended on November 15, 2007 that Navarro be sentenced to death during the penalty phase of the murder trial.
The murder
On Oct. 2, 2002, 44-year-old David Montemayor was kidnapped by three men at his family-run business in Rancho Dominguez. The three accused kidnappers, Gerardo Lopez, 23, Pacoima, Armando Macias, 32, Lancaster, and Alberto Martinez, 30, Castaic, were members of a San Fernando Valley gang and had been recruited by a higher level gang member, Navarro, to kidnap and murder the victim in a murder-for-hire plot. The three men are accused of driving Montemayor, a married father of three, toward his home in Buena Park, where they had been told the victim kept thousands of dollars in cash. Approximately one mile from the residence, the victim was able to escape from the car and run away from his attackers. Macias and Lopez are accused of firing their weapons at the fleeing victim, executing him by shooting him in the head. The defendants are accused of fleeing the scene and becoming involved in a televised police chase during rush hour. Police eventually stopped the vehicle and Lopez, Macias, and Martinez were taken into custody.
The victim’s sister, Defendant Deborah Perna, 51, Anaheim, was later charged with hiring the gang members to murder her brother. Perna believed her brother was stealing from the family business, where she worked as the office manager, and wanted to get rid of him. She was also jealous after learning that their father intended to pass control of the family company to the victim. Perna asked her co-worker, defendant Edelmira Corona, 31, Pico Rivera, to help her arrange the murder by asking Corona’s friend Navarro to kill Motemayor. Navarro recruited lower-level gang members Lopez, Macias, and Martinez to carry out the kidnapping and murder.
Co-defendants
Defendant Perna was convicted Oct. 28, 2005, of murder with the special circumstances of committing the murder in the course of attempted robbery and kidnapping and was sentenced Feb. 16, 2006, to life without the possibility of parole. Defendant Lopez was convicted Dec. 14, 2005, of murder with the special circumstances of committing the murder in the course of attempted robbery and kidnapping. He was sentenced June 2, 2006, to life without the possibility of parole. Defendant Corona pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 24, 2004. She faces a maximum of 22 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. in Department N-3, North Justice Center, Fullerton.
Defendants Macias and Martinez are charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder with an allegation for murder for financial gain.