Man Gets 26 Years to Life for Killing Teen at Party

An Irvine man convicted of killing a 14-year-old high school girl at a party was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison Friday by a judge who called him “not controllable by civilized society.”

Ruben G. Guerrero, 24, was convicted Jan. 24 of second-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and the use of a firearm. He will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 17 years, according to the prosecution.

The September, 1991, shooting took place at a Tustin cul-de-sac, where about 70 young people had gathered after a high school football game. Lilia Vianey Guevara, a Westminster High School sophomore, was fatally wounded as she and several friends fled the party in their Jeep, following a fistfight involving Guerrero.

Several witnesses testified that they saw Guerrero, his younger brother, Albert, and a friend, Robert Garcia, firing at the fleeing teens, passing a handgun back and forth and chasing the vehicle, as one youngster hung onto the hood.

Before the sentence was pronounced, Guerrero’s attorney made a last-ditch appeal for a new trial, calling several witnesses from the party who said they saw Albert Guerrero and Garcia, firing at the fleeing vehicle, and not Ruben. Authorities are still looking for those two men.

However, under cross-examination, the young party-goers acknowledged lying or giving contradictory accounts to police and investigators.

Ruben Guerrero also took the witness stand, acknowledging his participation in the fistfight, but he denied having or using a gun himself. He did not incriminate his brother or his friend.

Superior Court Judge David O. Carter said Guerrero had “cut the truth in half” by denying his guilt but not saying who had fired the fatal shot.

Two of the victim’s relatives also addressed the court, in Spanish, through a translator.

The girl’s grandmother, Evelia Sanchez, submitted a letter to the court, in English, which Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum began to read. However, after reading the first several sentences, the prosecutor’s voice began to tremble and he was unable to continue. He asked district attorney’s investigator Michael R. Major to read it.

Sanchez, who raised her granddaughter, wrote that “despite her young age, she liked to help people that had problems; she talked one of her good friends out of drug addiction. . . . I had all my hopes and dreams deposited on her, she was the main reason of my existence and I loved every single moment I spent with her. Now with this unfortunate incident, everything has vanished.”

Before pronouncing sentence, Carter read in detail from Guerrero’s criminal record, beginning with a BB gun attack on passersby when he was 13, continuing through drug use, petty theft, home burglaries, assault and battery and selling his mother’s jewels.

“Congratulations,” Carter said. “You’ve graduated. You’re here. Superior Court.”

What happened at the party, the judge said, was “a group frenzy, including your frenzy. Such an attempt to kill exceeds any altercation” that took place at the party.

“You are not controllable by civilized society,” Carter said.