SUNLAND : Woman Gets 19 Years for Killing Boyfriend

A Russian immigrant was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years to life in state prison for murdering her Sunland boyfriend on Christmas morning in 1991 and attempting to make the slaying look like a suicide.

Anna Gilinets, 19, of Sunland was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Sergio Ruiz with his own gun as he lay in bed and then placing the .357 Magnum in his left hand.

Police arrested Gilinets when they learned that Ruiz, a security guard, was right-handed.

Gilinets read to Superior Court Judge John Fisher an emotional statement that reiterated her claim that her boyfriend of two years died in an accidental shooting that followed a Christmas Eve argument.

“It was full of regret for the effect it had on her life and absent of the effect it had on the victim,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Mintz.

Gilinets told police that the couple had fought over a dent in her car that Ruiz, 22, had refused to pay for.

Gilinets also said that she was upset because Ruiz failed to buy her a Christmas present, even though he had used one of her credit cards to purchase a stereo component for himself.