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An Oklahoma man convicted of murdering a woman and her 4-year-old daughter in Long Beach and trying unsuccessfully to kill the child’s father is scheduled to be sentenced Friday but caused an incident at the start of the hearing.
Brandon Ivan Colbert Jr., 23, rose and tried to walk out of the court as witness-impact statements were about to be delivered. Three bailiffs pounced on him and wrestled him to the floor.
Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes has asked Superior Court Judge Jesse I. Rodriguez in court papers to sentence Colbert to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the Aug. 6, 2016, killings of Carina Mancera, 26, and her daughter, Jennabel Anaya. Barnes cited “the nature of the crimes and total lack of remorse shown by the defendant” and the number of people killed to justify her request.
Colbert is also facing an additional life term for the attempted murder of Luis Anaya, along with 75 years to life for personally discharging a firearm.
The prosecutor wrote in her sentencing memorandum that the attack was “without any provocation.”
A Long Beach jury found Colbert guilty a week ago of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder while lying in wait and multiple murders, along with allegations that he personally discharged a firearm.
Prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty against Colbert.
Authorities said he hid behind a sign and opened fire on the family with a shotgun.
Mancera and her daughter were gunned down near Ninth Street and Locust Avenue about 10:20 p.m. Aug. 6, 2016, as the family was returning home from grocery shopping. The gunman also fired at Anaya, but missed, according to police.
Long Beach police Chief Robert Luna said Colbert had been in custody since about three weeks after the killings, when he was arrested by Los Angeles police on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle and a DNA swab was obtained from him. He was arrested in November 2016 in connection with the killings after DNA evidence linked him to the crime, police said.
The surviving victim told investigators that a man walked up to his longtime girlfriend and their daughter and suddenly — without provocation — opened fire, then ran off. He said he did not recognize the man, nor did anyone else in the neighborhood.
Colbert acted as his own attorney during the trial.
—City News Service
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