A felon who was convicted of the shooting deaths of two men in Long Beach was sentenced today to 120 years to life in state prison.
Superior Court Judge Richard Goul imposed the sentence on Efren Abril, 25, of Long Beach, who was found guilty Nov. 20 of two counts of first-degree murder for the Aug. 5, 2021, killings of 29-year-old Antonio Parra and 28-year-old Brian Gomez, both of Long Beach.
The jury — which deliberated about an hour — found that Abril personally used a firearm during the commission of the crime, along with convicting him of one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition prohibited by a prior conviction.
In her closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Karen Brako told jurors that cell phone records showed that Abril was in the area of the shooting, and said the defendant’s jailhouse statements to undercover operatives involved information that “no one else” but the gunman would know.
She noted that he was asked by one of the jailhouse operatives, “What did these guys do?” and said that Abril responded, “Nothing.”
Abril also told the jailhouse operatives that eight to 10 rounds were fired, the prosecutor said, noting that nine cartridge casings were found at the scene.
“This defendant did it. … This defendant is guilty of all of the crimes charged,” Brako told the panel.
Defense attorney Greg Cummings said it was “a tragedy” that “two young men lost their lives,” but said it would “compound this tragedy” if the wrong person was wrongfully convicted of the killings.
He argued that the police investigation was “inadequate” and the evidence against his client was “simply lacking.”
Abril’s lawyer told jurors his client was “thrown into a jail cell” with two people posing as hardened criminals. He maintained that the undercover jailhouse operation — which he called “an environment where everyone is lying to impress each other” — was not going to yield reliable statements.
“Reasonable doubt abounds in this case,” Cummings said, urging the jury to acquit his client.
The shooting occurred at about 12:15 a.m. that day in 100 block of East Anaheim Street, where the victims were found with multiple gunshot wounds, according to Long Beach police.
Parra and Gomez were taken to a hospital, where they died.
Just over a month after the shooting, police announced that homicide detectives had gathered evidence to identify the shooter as Abril, whom police said was being held at the time in an Orange County jail on an unrelated case.
Authorities have not determined a motive for the killings, the prosecutor said.