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October 15, 2009 | 3:47 pm (L.A. Times)
Calling a 26-year-old gang member a predator responsible for a cold-blooded killing, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge sentenced him today to death for fatally shooting an off-duty county police captain.
Miguel Angel Magallon received his sentence by Judge Kathleen Kennedy in a downtown courtroom two months after a jury recommended he be executed for the murder of Capt. Michael L. Sparkes during an attempted robbery.
“Is the defendant a predator? I think he is a predator,†said Kennedy, denying Magallon’s defense motion for a new trial. “It is clear that Capt. Sparkes was a completely innocent victim and any one of us could have found ourselves in that position on that fateful morning."
As Sparkes’ widow looked on, Kennedy said the crime “was a cold-blooded killing, plain and simple.â€
Magallon was driving with an accomplice in the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2004, when he came upon Sparkes taking his predawn bicycle ride in unincorporated Rosewood near Compton.
Magallon got out of his car and attempted to rob Sparkes, then shot him with an AK-47 before running back to the vehicle. Wounded, Sparkes called 911 on his cellphone, saying “officer down.â€
But before help could arrive, Magallon had his accomplice drive the car back around so he could fire a second round at Sparkes. Sparkes was shot a total of nine times in an alley near Redondo Beach and Avalon boulevards.
But Sparkes managed to fire several rounds with his 9-mm Beretta, including one that would mark his killer. The round flew through the car door, hitting Magallon in the abdomen, according to Deputy Dist. Atty Darren Levine.
Sparkes, 53, died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he supervised the security force. A 30-year veteran of the county Police Department, he is survived by his wife, an adult stepdaughter and a 7-year-old son.
Magallon was convicted in July of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. The conviction included a special circumstance charge of murder during an attempted robbery and murder during a drive-by shooting.
The jury also found multiple special allegations, including murder to enhance a street gang and personal use of a firearm, according to prosecutors.
His accomplice, Orvis Camilo Anthony, 24, pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, said Shiara Dávila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney’s office.
In imposing the death penalty, Kennedy concluded that Magallon had shown no remorse and rejected his attorney’s contention that Anthony was the force behind the crime.
“It is the defendant...who exited the car,†Kennedy said.
Calling a 26-year-old gang member a predator responsible for a cold-blooded killing, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge sentenced him today to death for fatally shooting an off-duty county police captain.
Miguel Angel Magallon received his sentence by Judge Kathleen Kennedy in a downtown courtroom two months after a jury recommended he be executed for the murder of Capt. Michael L. Sparkes during an attempted robbery.
“Is the defendant a predator? I think he is a predator,†said Kennedy, denying Magallon’s defense motion for a new trial. “It is clear that Capt. Sparkes was a completely innocent victim and any one of us could have found ourselves in that position on that fateful morning."
As Sparkes’ widow looked on, Kennedy said the crime “was a cold-blooded killing, plain and simple.â€
Magallon was driving with an accomplice in the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2004, when he came upon Sparkes taking his predawn bicycle ride in unincorporated Rosewood near Compton.
Magallon got out of his car and attempted to rob Sparkes, then shot him with an AK-47 before running back to the vehicle. Wounded, Sparkes called 911 on his cellphone, saying “officer down.â€
But before help could arrive, Magallon had his accomplice drive the car back around so he could fire a second round at Sparkes. Sparkes was shot a total of nine times in an alley near Redondo Beach and Avalon boulevards.
But Sparkes managed to fire several rounds with his 9-mm Beretta, including one that would mark his killer. The round flew through the car door, hitting Magallon in the abdomen, according to Deputy Dist. Atty Darren Levine.
Sparkes, 53, died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he supervised the security force. A 30-year veteran of the county Police Department, he is survived by his wife, an adult stepdaughter and a 7-year-old son.
Magallon was convicted in July of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. The conviction included a special circumstance charge of murder during an attempted robbery and murder during a drive-by shooting.
The jury also found multiple special allegations, including murder to enhance a street gang and personal use of a firearm, according to prosecutors.
His accomplice, Orvis Camilo Anthony, 24, pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, said Shiara Dávila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney’s office.
In imposing the death penalty, Kennedy concluded that Magallon had shown no remorse and rejected his attorney’s contention that Anthony was the force behind the crime.
“It is the defendant...who exited the car,†Kennedy said.
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