A state appeals court panel Tuesday rejected the latest bid for re-sentencing for one of three men convicted of the killings of a 74-year-old man and the woman he was training as his replacement at a gas station mini-mart in Carson.
Eric Y. Sanford is serving a 50-years-to-life state prison sentence for the slayings of Eduardo Roco of Carson and Esther Arteaga, 32, of Wilmington, in the early morning hours of Nov. 4, 2006.
Roco, who was working his last shift before retiring, was training Arteaga to be his replacement when they were fatally shot during an attempted pre-dawn robbery at the Mobil gas station mini-mart at 223rd Street and Avalon Boulevard.
The two victims were found dead behind the cash register by the gas station’s owner at about 5 a.m. the day they were shot.
In a 17-page ruling, a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal wrote that it was “fully convinced the court was aware of and applied the correct standard” in denying Sanford’s second petition seeking re-sentencing.