5 suspected gang members get long sentences tied to 3 deaths at Southern California scenic lookouts

Five reputed gang members were sentenced on June 18, 2025, for the 2023 murders of three people at scenic lookouts in Pasadena and Rancho Palos Verdes. Four received life without parole, and one got 30 years to life. The defendants targeted lookouts to rob victims of phones and wallets.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...Four reputed gang members who killed three people in a pair of shootings at scenic lookouts https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/09/07/3-charged-with-murder-in-botched-robbery-at-pasadena-scenic-overlook/ in Pasadena and in Rancho Palos Verdes in 2023 were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole while a fifth was given a 30-years-to-life sentence in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday, June 18. The five were convicted on June 2 of at least one count of murder each, with three convicted of multiple counts, in the July 22, 2023, slaying of Jessie Munoz, 32, and, two days later, the deaths of Jorge Ramos, 36, and Taylorraven Whittaker, 26. The defendants, who prosecutors said were gang members, had targeted scenic lookouts to rob people of their cellphones and wallets, prosecutors said. They would then divvy up the spoils among themselves and other gang members. Marco Antonio Hernandez, 21; Rossel Jose Hernandez-Ponce, 24; Wendy Sarai Cerritos, 23; and Abraham Ernesto Alvarenga Cortez, 24, were handed the life sentences, while Luis Ventura, 27, was given the shorter sentence. Hernandez was the only one convicted in all three slayings. Hernandez-Ponce and Cerritos were convicted of two counts of murder in the deaths of Ramos and Whittaker, while Cortez and Ventura were convicted in the death of Munoz. All five were convicted of a count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Some were convicted of multiple counts of robbery while others were convicted of attempted robbery. “It’s extremely troubling, the casual slaughter the defendants engaged in,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen said. “You showed no mercy, you’ll get no mercy.” The five defendants were found and arrested two days after the last shooting. Munoz was sitting in his car with a woman in Pasadena when Cortez and Ventura walked up and demanded their belongings. After rummaging through the car, they demanded Munoz give them the car, but he then put his car in reverse in an attempt to flee and Cortez fired, according to evidence presented at trial. Munoz crashed into a guard rail. The woman was not struck by gunfire and survived. He died from the gunfire. Two days later, Cerritos, driving a Toyota Scion, parked directly beyond a blue Subaru with Ramos and Whittaker inside in the parking lot of a lookout point in Rancho Palos Verdes. Prosecutors said during the trial that Cerritos was familiar with the area and told Hernandez-Ponce, who she may have had a romantic interest in, that there were two people in the car. Hernandez and Hernandez-Ponce walked up to the driver’s and passenger’s doors. The victims never rolled down the windows, and Hernandez told a detective he fired first because he didn’t like the way the victims were looking at him, with Hernandez-Ponce then firing. During trial, Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams called the crimes “calculated terror,” while defense attorneys argued that prosecutors didn’t prove their case and questioned the testimony of some witnesses. Family members and friends of the victims urged Coen to give the defendants the maximum punishment possible, at times calling them “demons” and “monsters” who they said laughed and joked during the court proceedings and showed no remorse. Family members of Munoz wrote letters to the court, describing him as a kind and caring person who loved video games and playing guitar. Many said he would put the problems of others before his own. His sister, Ivette Munoz, said the lookout where the murder occurred was one “one of the places he loved to be.” His mother, Rosalina Rodriguez, said Munoz would check in on her, bringing lunch and dinner. “It’s so sad they took away his life like that,” she wrote. “I’m missing my baby boy very much. All I want is my son back.” Silas Ramos, Jorge Ramos’ father, asked for the stiffest penalty because the defendants showed no remorse. “My wife’s life and my life have changed forever,” he said through an interpreter. “Our world has fallen apart and has been destroyed forever.” Brenda Chacon, Ramos’ aunt, told the court he was at his favorite place when he was killed. “He was going to enjoy the ocean view,” she said, later turning to the defendants. “They have no sympathy to see us and how we’ve suffered.” Whittaker was the younger of two daughters. Her mother, Sylvia Jageshar, said she has spent nearly three years learning to live with her daughter’s absence and would give anything to hear her two daughters laughing together again. Whittaker loved math and science growing up and was the kind of student who “would ace the test but miss homework,” Jageshar said. “She was funny, sarcastic and never afraid to let us know what she thought,” she said. On Thursday, June 18, only three defendants — Ventura, Hernandez and Cortez — glanced, briefly, at the speakers. Hernandez-Ponce kept his head down and Cerritos kept her eyes on the table in front of her. All five have remained behind bars since their arrests in July 2023.