Man gets 2 life terms in Texas-LA-Santa Monica crime spree that left 5 dead, 7 injured

By CITY NEWS SERVICE | news@socalnews.com |

PUBLISHED: May 6, 2022 at 1:46 p.m. | UPDATED: May 6, 2022 at 5:43 p.m.

By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH | City News Service

LOS ANGELES — A man pleaded guilty Friday to a crime spree in Los Angeles and Santa Monica that left five men dead and seven others injured, along with the killings of his aunt and uncle in Texas.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono immediately sentenced Ramon Alberto Escobar, now 50, to two life prison terms without the possibility of parole plus 124 years to life in prison for the crimes in Los Angeles County.

During a subsequent video conference in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Escobar pleaded guilty to the August 2018 killings of his aunt, Dina Escobar, and his uncle, Rogelio Escobar, in Texas, in a plea deal that spared him a potential death sentence in that state. He was also sentenced to life in those two slayings, and will serve his time in a California prison.