Man sentenced to life in prison for killing Huntington Park store clerk
A 54-year-old man was sentenced April 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder in the killing of a store clerk during a Huntington Park robbery, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Arturo Bejarano Jr., 54, was additionally sentenced to 200 years to life.
On Oct. 2, 2015, a jury found Bejarano guilty of first-degree murder for killing Veronica Hurtado De Reyes. He was also found guilty on seven other counts: two counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of assault with a firearm, as well as one count each of false imprisonment, first-degree burglary, and dissuading a witness. Jurors also found true a special circumstance allegation that Bejarano committed the murder during a robbery.
On March 2, 2012, Bejarano, armed with a gun, robbed a bookstore. During the robbery, Bejarano bound and assaulted the store employee, the prosecutors said.
About two weeks later, on March 15, 2012, Bejarano robbed a vitamin store where he bound and gagged clerk Hurtado De Reyes. According to coroner’s records, Hurtado De Reyes stopped breathing after being bound and gagged with a sheet, duct tape and a zip tie.
On April 6, 2012, Bejarano committed a robbery at a home where a 16-year-old girl was hiding in a closet.
Huntington Park police investigated the killing and linked Bejarano to the crimes using DNA evidence from the scenes. Bejarano was arrested June 11, 2014.
Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.
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