Gang Member Gets 38 Years to Life for Killing ‘Hero’

Calling a gang member’s actions “unwarranted and callous,” a Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced him to 38 years to life in prison for shooting to death a good Samaritan who tried to foil a purse snatching.

Richard Chavarria, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back, showed no reaction as he was sentenced for the murder of 26-year-old Margarito Pina Estrella. The victim happened upon the purse snatching on his way home from church in July 1996.

“There was clearly another avenue for you to have taken to have avoided taking the life of a human being whose whole life was dedicated to helping other people--a man of character,” Judge Stuart T. Waldrip told the 24-year-old defendant before imposing the sentence.

While calling Chavarria’s initial crime of taking a purse from a 61-year-old woman “despicable” in itself, he said the defendant only compounded the crime by shooting Estrella to death.

Three of Estrella’s brothers were in the courtroom for the sentencing Friday and told the judge, in a letter read by an interpreter, that their brother planned to be married the month he was killed. They said they would never forget his kindness toward others.

“His story is very unique because in life there are not very many people like him,” read the letter from the family. “He was very loved by all who knew him. . . . He would help anyone who would ask him for help, no matter what it was.”

Estrella, who worked at a clothing factory, tried to come to the rescue of a woman he saw chasing Chavarria down the street. He took over the chase and continued even after he heard the defendant fire apparent warning shots. Chavarria eventually spun around and shot Estrella in the chest, killing him. He then made good his escape with the woman’s black handbag and about $30 it contained.

“It’s a real tragedy,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Gundy, who prosecuted the case. “He was a kind and decent person trying to help a very easy mark. He was trying to right a wrong and he was killed for it. We’re all a little bit poorer.”

While a jury of seven women and five men found Chavarria guilty of first-degree murder and grand theft in October, they rejected a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a robbery, which would have made Chavarria eligible for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury also rejected a felony second-degree robbery charge.

Chavarria remained at-large for nearly three weeks after the murder. Police got a break in the case when an acquaintance of the defendant told them that shortly after the shooting, a breathless Chavarria arrived holding a purse and said, “I just had to shoot a hero.”

That informant, Guy Maxwell, is a heroin addict, Gundy said, so investigators had to find other witnesses to corroborate the story before charges could be filed.

In addition to murder and grand theft charges, Chavarria was also convicted of intimidating Maxwell in an attempt to block him from testifying. His initial sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the murder was increased by three years and eight months for the grand theft and intimidation of a witness charges. He also received a 10-year sentence enhancement for personal use of a firearm.