One of two men convicted of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder in the shooting death of a grandfather watering his lawn in West Long Beach was sentenced this week to life in state prison without the possibility of parole, a county prosecutor said.
Rhyan Burrell, 26, of Lynwood was handed the sentence in Long Beach Superior Court on Wednesday, Jan. 8, almost a year after jurors found him and co-defendant Terrel Warren, 29, of Long Beach guilty. Jurors also found true a special circumstance of shooting from a motor vehicle — which led to the life sentence, prosecutor Robert Song said.
Warren’s sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 26.
Jose Raul Corrales Aguilar, 69, was watering his lawn near Canal Avenue and Sunset Street on Oct. 9, 2018, when Burrell and Warren both fired guns at others from a car, Song said.
A relative of one of the defendants had been allegedly assaulted by a group of students, Song said. Burrell and Warren showed up at the school and confronted school officials about the assault, Song said.
About 3 p.m., their gold Nissan Altima passed by surveillance cameras then drove toward a group of students walking home. Warren, in the passenger seat, fired eight shots from a 9-millimeter handgun at a passing car containing two men, hitting a passenger in the back; he survived. Burrell then fired six shots from a .40-caliber gun at the students — but fatally struck Aguilar.
No other injuries were reported.
It is unclear why the car was fired upon, and if the now-convicted men believed the accused assaulters were among the students.
Both men were arrested weeks later. The .40-caliber handgun was found in Burrell’s refrigerator, Song said, while the 9-millimeter handgun was found during an unrelated arrest.
Aguilar, a mechanic, was described by family members as a devoted grandfather who cared for his ill wife and loved taking his family on spontaneous outings in his Volkswagen van.