Sentence in 2 Murders Is First in State : Courts: Edward Throop is ordered to serve life in prison without parole. Prop. 115 lets judges impose the penalty on minors.

The teen-age gunman in the drive-by slayings of two Saticoy men was sentenced Friday to two concurrent terms of life in prison without parole, becoming the first person in California to receive such a stiff sentence for a crime committed as a minor.

Edward (Tony) Throop was 17 when he committed the crime, and thus qualifies as the first juvenile to get the sentence dictated by a 1990 ballot initiative, which made juveniles 16 and older subject to a no-parole life sentence.

Throop, now 18, was dealt the harshest punishment of the four teen-agers involved in the April 7 shooting last year in which two men were killed and two others seriously injured as they stood outside a baptism party in Cabrillo Village. All four youths were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Assistant Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin McGee said Friday’s court action was the first to invoke the harshest sentence for a minor allowed by voter-approved Proposition 115.

“It was going to happen sooner or later,” McGee said. “In some respects, it’s unfortunate that we (in Ventura County) are the first to do it. That means someone was killed under these circumstances.”

The defense plans to appeal the sentence on the ground that it is cruel and unusual punishment to lock up someone for his entire adult life.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Allan Steele also sentenced Throop, a Ventura resident, to serve two concurrent terms of 15 years to life in state prison for the two counts of attempted murder.

During the sentencing, Steele sympathized with Throop’s mother and the victims’ families. “The impact of this tragedy is so enormous it has caused me to spend too many sleepless nights,” he said.

The judge likened the random drive-by shooting to indiscriminate killings going on elsewhere in the world. “It is called terrorism, and all civilized people abhor that kind of combat.”

Steele said he felt compelled to impose the most severe sentence permitted by state law, as a deterrent to gang members considering such acts of violence.

During the sentencing, fathers of victims Javier Ramirez, 18, and Rolando Martinez, 22, asked the judge through a translator to impose the maximum penalty on Throop. They said their sons were both shot in the back.

“Your honor, you who are the maximum authority, I beg of you not to have compassion on these criminals,” said Claudio Ramirez, father of Javier Ramirez.

Since his teen-age son’s death, Ramirez said, his younger son sits on the couch waiting for his big brother to take him out to play. His wife, he added, sits by the window praying she could see her dead son again, even if from a distance.

Throop showed no reaction to the ruling. Earlier in the sentencing hearing, he read a statement expressing remorse, sniffling between sentences as he neared the end.

He tried to dismiss descriptions of himself as a “gangbanger,” saying his friends were gang members, but he was not. “I would do my best to remain neutral,” he said. “I had no intention of harming anyone.”

Public Defender Christina Briles asked the judge to base the sentence on Throop’s character, not the crime he committed.

Briles said he was a good student, a reliable worker and someone who minded his mother. She also portrayed Throop as a passive, shy follower who was drawn into the gang shooting because he has low self-esteem. Citing two psychologists’ evaluations, she said Throop was “salvageable.”

“How can we take a battered soul like this and toss him away like a burden on society when we are partly responsible?” she asked.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Kossoris’ view of Throop was markedly different. He described him as “a louse and a liar . . . with the charm of a con man” who castigated his mother for refusing to fabricate an alibi for him.

He called Throop “one of the most depraved individuals” he had seen in 26 years of practicing law, and said it was too bad that Throop was four months short of 18 when he committed the crime because he escaped the death penalty.

“In my opinion, I think he deserves it,” he said.

Kossoris also told the judge that Throop was fired from one job for slapping his manager and from another for allowing his friends to steal merchandise.

Throop’s mother, Mitzi Darapiza, sat composed throughout the hearing. Outside the courtroom, she said she thought the sentence was a fair one, but added: “It hurts. It’s a very deep pain right now.”

Darapiza said she initially felt guilty about her son’s actions. Now, she said, she talks to groups of parents and their children about her son’s mistakes, warning potential gang members of the consequences of killing others.

Darapiza said she will try to treat her 4-year-old son differently than Throop. “I’m going to love him a lot more and listen to him,” she said.

Two of the other three youths convicted in the shooting deaths have received lesser sentences and the third was promised he will not spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Saundra T. Brewer had requested a no-parole sentence for Vincent Medrano, 17, but he was sentenced on March 11 to four consecutive life terms. Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones said the sentence guarantees that Medrano will spend nearly 40 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

Joseph Scholle, who was 15 at the time of the slaying, has been committed to the California Youth Authority until he turns 25. It was the maximum sentence for a 15-year-old. Carlos Vargas, 17, who witnesses said purchased the .22-caliber rifle with Medrano, is awaiting sentencing. Prosecutors have promised they would not seek a no-parole sentence because he pleaded guilty and testified against the others.