Youths Get Maximum Sentence in Slaying

Calling the crime “cruel beyond belief,” a judge imposed the maximum sentence on two gang members who shot a teenager five times and then, as he begged for help, drove a car over him.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Shari K. Silver first praised Luis Robert Guerrero, 18, for working toward a high school diploma while in jail, then sentenced him to 44 years to life in prison.

He had been convicted as a juvenile in the 1995 murder of 17-year-old Alejandro Hernandez, an alleged gang member. Alfonso Cortez, 19, a co-defendant, was sentenced to 27 years to life.

Before Guerrero begins his life sentence, he must serve 16 years for carjacking--a sentence imposed Thursday by Silver for a theft in which the two obtained the vehicle used in the murder.

“The sentences that were handed down were appropriate in every respect,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Nantroup Jr. “The crimes showed disregard for the community as well as human life. There were children in the line of fire.”