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Man who killed teen as he changed car tire gets 50 years in prison

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A 36-year-old Fullerton man who shot a teenager to death as he was helping change a tire on a friend’s car was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in prison in the 2011 slaying.

Charles Ramirez was found guilty in December of fatally shooting Larry Ruiz, a 19-year-old who was changing a car tire while the car was parked in an alley behind his parent’s Fullerton home.

Ramirez confronted Ruiz and accused him of having been in a fight with his friend earlier that day.

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When Ruiz denied being in a fight, Ramirez punched him in the face, pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, prosecutors said.

Ruiz died at the scene. The teen’s friend was uninjured and Ramirez was arrested by Fullerton police the next day.

Ramirez’s brother-in-law, Marc Tomas Luna, was a co-defendant in the case, accused of lying to police about Ramirez’s involvement in the shooting.

Luna, 30, was sentenced to three years in state prison.

Prior to sentencing Friday, the victim’s father told that court that he still struggles with the loss of his son and why he was killed.

Adolfo.flores@latimes.com

Steve.marble@latimes.com

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