Michael Guadalupe Esparza, 34

Michael Guadalupe “Magic” Esparza, a 34-year-old Latino, died Saturday, May 1, 2004, after he was shot in the 10700 block of La Mirada Boulevard in Whittier, according to Orange County coroner records. 

Esparza was working at his business, Body Illusions, on April 26, 2004, giving a tattoo to a customer when three men wearing motorcycle gear walked into the shop around 3:30 p.m., according to records from the California Court of Appeals.

One of the men opened fire, striking Esparza in the head, according to court records. The customer and four other employees were able to duck and hide, escaping injury. 

Investigators found five .22-caliber cartridges at the scene.

Esparza was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he died five days later, at 5:45 a.m., according to coroner’s records.

He was a native of Los Angeles who had owned the tattoo parlor for 13 years, according to his obituary. At the time of his death, Esparza was living in Downey with his wife and two young children. 

Nine months after Esparza’s death, a gang member named Manuel Louis Jaramillo, then 23, admitted to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigators that he was involved in the shooting, along with two other gang members. 

Jaramillo’s gang had made it known it wanted members to start killing rival gang members in Whittier, according to court records. Esparza was not a gang member but some of his employees were, and investigators think that motivated the shooters to target the tattoo parlor. 

Jaramillo said his two companions threatened to “smoke him” if he didn’t carry out the shooting, and he said one of the other men actually fired the shots because he was too scared. Still, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged only Jaramillo with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder on Sept. 11, 2006.

Experts testified it was unlikely a gang would send someone to a shooting who wasn’t ready to follow through, according to court records. They also testified that Jaramillo was a rising star in his gang, and committing such a shooting in broad daylight would only enhance his status.

A jury found Jaramillo guilty of all five counts on July 1, 2008, and he was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.

Jaramillo, now 36, is serving his sentence in Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records. He becomes eligible for parole on Aug. 21, 2029.  

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.