15 September 2014 :

Riverside County jury recommends death penalty for Angel Esparza, 30, Hispanic, charged in the deaths of 16-year-old Angel Luna on Dec. 3, 2009, and of Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia on Dec. 19, 2009. Esparza was staying at the residence of Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, while on the run from law enforcement, and on Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva said. Esparza entered Morin's bedroom with a revolver and ordered Garcia and Juarez to the floor, took their wallets and bound them with cords and duct tape. He and Zapata drove them to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, and Esparza dragged them into the vineyard, the prosecutor said. Later, Zapata's boyfriend, who had a can of gasoline with him, drove Zapata and Esparza back to the vineyard, and Esparza took the gas and a bag of the victims' belongings into the vineyard. The next morning, Juarez and Garcia were found shot in the head and burned, Silva said. Esparza was arrested in San Bernardino on Dec. 24, 2009, and authorities found a gun that matched markings found on a bullet in Garcia's head, Silva said. Morin and Zapata refused to testify in the trial - their previous testimony was read in court. They each pleaded guilty in the case to 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison. Esparza was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for killing Luna. Esparza is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 21 at Larson Justice Center in Indio.