A Long Beach man was sentenced Monday to 40 years to life in prison for “executing” a 30-year-old Guatemalan immigrant during a botched robbery in 2019, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a statement this week.

Brandon Deandre Norwood, 32, was convicted on May 17 of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the discharge of a firearm causing death and one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Prosecutors said that on March 3, 2019, 30-year-old Oscar Humberto Chunmichicoj was headed home to his apartment in Anaheim after filling up two water jugs at a nearby store when Norwood, who was in a rental car, began following him.

At some point, Norwood got out of the rental car and attempted to rob Chunmichicoj, prosecutors said. When Chunmichicoj resisted, prosecutors said Norwood shot him once in the head and then ran back to the waiting rental car. Norwood was eventually arrested after video surveillance placed him at the scene of the murder, prosecutors said.

“This young man was a completely innocent victim who came to this country for a better life,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Instead of realizing his American dream, Oscar ended up the victim of a violent crime at the hands of a career criminal. Thankfully, his killer will spend decades behind bars instead of preying on hardworking people like Oscar.”

Norwood was on parole at the time of the crime. This case was his third strike, according to prosecutors.

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