Two men convicted of the murder of a Hong Kong man who had stopped to have lunch in West Covina while on his way to Las Vegas were re-sentenced Thursday to 26 years to life in state prison.
Michael Quiroga Castiblanco, 27, and Juan Alejandro Cortez, 30, were initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Feb. 1, 2013, shooting death of Sheron Khemlani, but a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in January that there was insufficient evidence to support the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a robbery.
Castiblanco and Cortez were convicted in July 2017 of one count each of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery.
The 29-year-old victim was attacked after traveling with his brother to the Jewelry District in downtown Los Angeles and then stopping in West Covina to have lunch before continuing on to Las Vegas.
The defendants were part of an organized criminal group that targeted jewelers and individuals who made large cash withdrawals from banks, according to evidence presented at their trial.
The group followed the two brothers from downtown Los Angeles to West Covina with the intent to rob them, Los Angeles County prosecutors said after Castiblanco and Cortez were convicted.
In its Jan. 24 ruling, the state appellate court panel found there was “insufficient evidence that either defendant acted with reckless indifference to human life.” The justices noted that three men were seen approaching the car containing the victim and his brother and that the prosecution had not argued to jurors that either Castiblanco or Cortez was the actual killer.
Castiblanco and Cortez, who were identified and charged just over a year after the heist, have filed petitions seeking to have their convictions vacated as a result of a new state law involving murder cases.
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