Jury Recommends Life Sentences in De La Rosa Killing

Three reputed drug dealers were spared the death penalty Thursday by a jury that recommended they be sentenced to life in prison for the murder of undercover Fullerton Police Detective Tommy De La Rosa in a drug sting that went awry.

The Norwalk Superior Court jury deliberated less than three hours before rejecting the death penalty for Raul Meza, 41, Jose Yuriar, 26, and Jesus Araclio, 31, all of Los Angeles County, despite a prosecutor’s plea that the men deserved to die in the gas chamber.

The jury recommended that the men be given life in prison without possibility of parole when they are sentenced Jan. 4. Norwalk Superior Court Judge J. Kimball Walker has the power to reduce the jury’s recommendation but cannot overturn the verdict and sentence the men to death.

“I’m disappointed that (the jury) didn’t give the death penalty at least to Meza, who is responsible for firing a bullet through Mr. De La Rosa’s heart,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Lenhart. “I told the jury (the defendants) deserved to die because they killed a very good police officer, one of the best cops in the city.”

Fullerton Detective Dan Hughes, De La Rosa’s partner at the time of the slaying, said De La Rosa’s widow, Leslie De La Rosa, was also disappointed at the jury’s decision.

“She doesn’t understand how they made the ultimate decision on Tommy’s life, but now these people will still get to see their families,” Hughes said. “Tommy will never see his family again.”

Fullerton Police Capt. Lee R. DeVore said that members of the police force would have preferred a death sentence but were pleased with the jury’s decision. “Any time a police officer is killed, we would really like to see the death penalty given to the defendants,” DeVore said.

De La Rosa, 43, was posing as a drug dealer when Meza, Yuriar and Araclio planned to kill and rob him after they negotiated a $4-million cocaine deal on June 21, 1990, prosecutors told the jury.

De La Rosa was being monitored by a helicopter and by undercover officers when he died in a hail of bullets moments after entering a Downey home.

Defense attorney Javier Ramirez, who represented Yuriar, said the slaying occurred when the drug deal “blew up” and shots were exchanged between De La Rosa and another reputed drug dealer who died in the shootout.

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report.