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A man pleaded guilty Friday to a crime spree in Los Angeles and Santa Monica which left five dead and seven injured, in addition to the murders of his aunt and uncle in Texas.
The judge of Los Angeles County Superior Court, Mark Hanasono, immediately sentenced Ramón Alberto Escobar, who now has 50 years, to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 124 years to life for crimes committed in Los Angeles County.
During a subsequent video conference in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Escobar pleaded guilty to the murders in August of 2018 of her aunt, Dina Escobar, and her uncle, Rogelio Escobar, in Texas, in a plea deal which saved him a possible death sentence in that state.
He was also sentenced to life in prison for those two murders and will serve his sentence in a California prison.
The charges of murder in Los Angeles County involved:
– An attack by the 10 September 2018 in Santa Mónica against Juan Antonio Ramírez, aged 51, who died of his injuries in January 2021.
– The murders of 16 in September 2018 by Branden Ridout, from 24 years old, and Kelvin Williams, of 59, in downtown Los Angeles.
– The murder of the 20 September 2018 by Steven Cruze, from 39 years, from San Gabriel, below from the Santa Monica Pier.
– The 24 of September 2018, murder of Jorge Martínez, of 63 years old, in Santa Monica.
Escobar, who had already indicated in November of 2018 that he wanted to resolve his case without going to trial, admitted special circumstances allegations of multiple murders and the murder of Cruze during a robbery, in addition to pleading guilty to attempted murder involving seven other victims.
“Guilty,” the defendant said over and over again when Judge Hanasono asked him how he pleaded to each of the charges.
Blood trail from Texas to California
Authorities said Escobar drove to California after being interrogated by the Texas authorities about the disappearance of his aunt and uncle, who were siblings.
Los Angeles police obtained surveillance video in downtown Los Angeles showing Escobar beating a man with a baseball bat , the same day Ridout and Williams were killed and then going through their pockets, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorneys Victor Avila and Hilary Williams.
The defendant wore distinctive clothing and had a “very distinctive bow-legged walk,” and LAPD released video stills showing Escobar, asking for the public’s help to find him, according to prosecutors.
Shortly after Martinez was hit in the head with what appeared to be bolt cutters, a police officer Santa Monica police recognized him as the man involved in the he murders in downtown Los Angeles and took him into custody, according to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.
Detectives subsequently searched Escobar’s truck and seized a wooden baseball bat believed to have been used in the two murders. in downtown Los Angeles, and Santa Monica police found a pair of bolt cutters believed to have been used in one of the attacks, authorities said.
Some of the attacks were against homeless people, but Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Billy Hayes said in 2018 that the attacks did not seem to be based on any hatred towards the homeless.
“I think it was a crime of opportunity . Apparently, the motive in most of these cases was theft.”