Jurors Recommend Death for 2 Killers
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COMPTON — Jurors on Thursday recommended the death penalty for two men convicted in the 1997 killings of two Long Beach City College students.
Two weeks ago, the jury found Reuben Rangel and Joseph Mora, both 23, guilty on two first-degree murder counts and two counts of attempted robbery. Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Ann Escalante had urged the jury to call for the death penalty.
The defendants were convicted of fatally shooting Anthony Urrutia and Andres Encinas, both 24, while they were sitting in their car outside a Compton residence.
The defendants asked Urrutia and Encinas to hand over their wallets but shot them before they could comply, Escalante said.
The two victims were studying to be police officers, she said.
Among the witnesses for the prosecution was a friend of the victims who had been sitting in the car’s back seat but apparently was not seen because of the vehicle’s tinted windows.
Formal sentencing was set for March 18.
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