2 Men Sentenced for Killing Teenager
Two men were sentenced Wednesday, possibly for life, for the gang-related murder of a Littlerock teenager in which the victim was shot, execution-style.
Jesus Rodriguez, 20, of Panorama City and Sal Frontuto, 18, of San Fernando were convicted May 9 by a Van Nuys jury of the first-degree murder of 16-year-old Steven Alvarez, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Donna Lebowitz.
Alvarez was shot eight times in the upper body in June 1998 after a gang confrontation in Panorama City, Lebowitz said. The youth, who was not a gang member but was hanging around some gang members, ran to hide in a trash can, but one of the defendants dragged him out, then both fired at him execution-style, she said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt sentenced Rodriguez to 35 years to life, and Frontuto to 29 years to life, sentences Lebowitz called “fair.”
Rodriguez was on probation for firearm possession at the time of the shooting, but Frontuto had no criminal record, according to their probation reports.
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