Today, four men were sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison for brutally attacking a man in Riverside County, then kidnapping him and killing him in Long Beach, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced today.
The men—23-year-old Jose Duenas, 24-year-old Christopher Arevalo Ramirez, 25-year-old Rafael Antonio Portales and 25-year-old Rafael Bravo—were found guilty by a jury on July 25 of two felony counts of second-degree murder and kidnapping, according to a release.
The victim, 24-year-old Hector Jauregui Campos, was an acquaintance of defendants Duenas, Ramirez and Bravo, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Guthrie, who prosecuted the case.
Campos was reportedly at a Mira Loma home on September 7, 2012 with Duenas, Ramirez and Bravo when he was shot in the back of the head and hit with a sledgehammer on the head by the defendants.
Though shot in the head, Campos remained alive, said Guthrie. A witness at the trial testified that Duenas and Ramirez began beating Campos in the middle of a street, before putting him in a car and driving him to Long Beach, where they stopped at an apartment building and began to beat him again. Duenas then tried to strangle Compos with his shirt, by tying it around his neck.
As Campos’ body went limp, they placed him in the trunk of a car, drove to an alleyway, pulling him out of the car, shot him again, and left him for dead.
A witness saw the suspects driving away and recorded the car’s license plate number. Authorities reportedly conducted a search for the vehicle and found the car and the suspects, each with Campos’ blood on them.
While the men were arrested, a woman discovered Campos in an alleyway and called 911. He was transported to the hospital and died the next day, according to the release.
After a tip, authorities discovered Bravo cleaning up the crime scene in Mira Loma. Duenas was also located and found at the scene of strangulation.
The Long Beach Police Department investigated this case.