A Southern California gang member who fatally shot a man and then killed a police officer and wounded another in a Los Angeles suburb was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Michael Mejia, 30, was convicted in September of first-degree murder and other felonies for the 2017 killings.
Noting that Mejia has shown no remorse, Judge Roger Ito said he would impose the maximum sentence, the Southern California News Group reported.
“He is not contrite. He is quite proud. It is extraordinary to the court that level of callousness,” Ito said.
In addition to two life without parole sentences, Ito also sentenced Mejia to a total of 115 years to life and 34 years and four months for the various other crimes.
Mejia’s attorney said during the trial that the gang member and parolee was on drugs when he shot and killed Roy Torres, 47, in East Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2017.
Prosecutors said Mejia then stole Torres’s car and then crashed it in nearby Whittier.
When Whittier police responded, prosecutors said, Mejia opened fire, killing Officer Keith Boyer and wounding another officer before he was wounded.
Boyer, 53, was the first Whittier police officer killed in the line of duty since 1979.
