If 21-year-old Jose Garcia-Miramontes ever gets out of prison, it won't be until he's a very old man.
Under a plea agreement crafted by prosecutors, Garcia-Miramontes pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing Lee W. Parker just under a year ago, gunning the Midvale postal worker down in an early-morning confrontation on I-15.At his June 8 sentencing in 3rd District Court, the former Los Angeles gang member is expected to plead guilty to three more first-degree felonies that prosecutors believe will keep him in prison for decades.
The victim's family was not interested in pursuing the death penalty against Garcia-Miramontes, according to prosecutor Bob Stott, but they wanted him placed where he won't hurt anyone else.
Parker was on his way to work at 4:20 a.m. May 21 of last year when his car was sideswiped at the 7200 South onramp to I-15. Parker coasted to a stop at the side of the freeway, according to witnesses.
Witnesses testified at his preliminary hearing that Garcia-Miramontes turned his car around after the accident, drove back to Parker's car and rammed into it again. He got out of his car, approached Parker, who was sitting in his front seat behind the steering wheel, and opened fire with a 9mm handgun.
Parker was hit three times, the final wound an execution-style shot to the head, according to passersby who witnessed the incident.
One driver slowed his pickup truck next to Parker's car to check on the victim. Garcia-Miramontes, still standing next to the car, yelled at him and then opened fire on him as he drove away, Peter Karpakis testified, then chased him down in his car and began ramming the truck.
Garcia-Miramontes is also charged with first-degree felony attempted murder for shooting at Karpakis.
After fleeing the shooting, Garcia-Miramontes stole an idling car from a Midvale driveway, according to court documents. He was arrested about three hours later in Fillmore after running through a UHP roadblock, shredding the car's tires.
In court Wednesday, two new first-degree felony charges were filed by Stott. Garcia-Miramontes was charged with attempted murder for shooting at Fred Mouney, a passenger in Karpakis' pickup truck, and aggravated robbery for stealing the car.
Stott said the plan is for Garcia-Miramontes to be sentenced to life in prison June 8 for killing Parker. After that, the scenario calls for him to plead guilty to the other three first-degree felonies, all of which carry a firearm enhancement.
Those five-years-to-life sentences will all run consecutively, Stott said, as will the three additional gun enhancement terms of five to 10 years.
Stott said Garcia-Miramontes told police he was high on LSD when the shooting occurred, a statement borne out by subsequent lab tests.
"He has said he remembers some parts of the incident, but not everything," Stott said.
Stott said prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain because it meets the family's desire to put Garcia-Miramontes behind bars for many years, and the odds of getting a death penalty sentence considering the defendant's young age and admitted drug use are not good.
Stott estimates Garcia-Miramontes will probably serve at least 25 years of his initial sentence before being eligible for a parole hearing and at that point, the other consecutive sentences will kick in.
"He will be in a situation where he will never harm another person again," said Stott.
Maxine Parker, widow of the victim, watched the court proceedings Wednesday and said she is relieved at the outcome but was too emotionally distraught to add more.