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POMONA (CNS) - A man convicted of the baseball bat murders of his 65- year-old mother and 73-year-old stepfather at the family's Hacienda Heights home was sentenced Thursday to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.
Jurors found Nelson Fermin Garibay, 47, guilty March 11 of two counts of first-degree murder for the Jan. 11, 2021, killings of Irma Garibay and Mario Flores-Romero, and one count of attempted murder involving his brother, who survived the attack.
The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
Just over a week after convicting him, jurors found that Garibay was sane at the time of the crimes.
Deputy District Attorney Cesar Rodriguez told jurors that the defendant's motive was "hate" that had been brewing for years, and that his "hatred for his family grew even stronger" after he was forced to move out to the garage.
Garibay had threatened his mother and brother, saying "Your day is coming," according to the prosecutor, who told the jury that "sadly the defendant carried out the threat."
"It's the hate that motivated these crimes," the prosecutor said. "He set out to end three lives and succeeded in taking Irma's and Mario's."
Garibay used a baseball bat to deliver "multiple blows" to his mother in the garage in a "vicious act" that proved to be overwhelming, then "like a predator" hunted down his stepfather and attacked him with a baseball bat and a fruit picker in the back yard, the prosecutor said in his closing argument.
Rodriguez told jurors that the defendant "failed to eliminate the only witness to his heinous acts" -- his brother, who was the final target and suffered a cut to his head that required 30 staples.
He posted on Facebook, "It's done," in a post that was subsequently deleted, according to the prosecutor.
Defense attorney Gary Meastas had urged the jury to acquit his client of the most serious charges -- a request the jury rejected.
Garibay's attorney called hate a pretty strong word and questioned what evidence jurors had seen that his client hated his entire family and whether there was such hatred that it caused Garibay to "snap" that day.
The defense lawyer said jurors had no evidence of "how this went down."
"How did it start? How did it go midway? ... You don't know," he said.
Garibay's attorney noted that his client was living in a garage with "no access to a bathroom."
He questioned the prosecutor's assertion that Garibay was heading south toward Mexico, asking what kind of proof there was that his client intended to cross the border.
"Is that to dirty him up more?" Meastas asked.
Deputy District Attorney Laura Uyeno asked jurors during the prosecution's rebuttal argument why Garibay would have fled to Otay Mesa unless he was trying to escape responsibility for his actions.