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By Brian Hews
LOS ANGELES – Christopher Lee Savala, a 33-year-old gang member from East Los Angeles, has been convicted in the first-degree murders of two men nearly four years ago.
Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim of the Hardcore Gang Division said a Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about an hour and a half before returning the verdicts against Savala.
Benjamin Renteria and Diego Vargas, both 22, were shot to death in March 2008 by Savala, a Bell gang member. The shooting occurred in unincorporated county territory in East Los Angeles. The murders were the subject of several media reports throughout Southern California.
The jury found “true the special circumstances of multiple murders and gang murders, along with gun and gang allegations,” Kim said in a statement.
Savala faces sentencing on Jan. 11 by Judge Ronald S. Coen, who presided over the trial.
“Because the District Attorney’s office opted not to seek the death penalty, the defendant will be sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in state prison,” Kim said.
Authorities said Savala was socializing with four acquaintances in the 1200 block of South Herbert Avenue when the victims, reportedly with a rival Maywood gang, showed up. Words were exchanged, shots were fired and the victims lay mortally wounded.
Savala fled, but was arrested by Sheriff’s deputies a few hours after the shooting. He has remained in custody since then.
It sounds like Renteria and Vargas are as culpable in their own death as is the shooter Savala. In fact, one could argue Savala was just defending himself if Renteria and Vargas stopped and approached (assaulted?) him. They bit off more than they could chew, no real loss anyways, just a bunch of loser gang bangers. The economic loser, as always, is the hard working taxpayer who foots the bill for all of the police work, crime scene investigation, legal process, and lifetime incarceration costs.
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