Pedro Espinoza smirks at victim’s father and profanely says he has no intention of paying court-ordered restitution.
Pedro Espinoza reacts to receiving the death penalty for the fatal shooting of Jamiel Shaw.
Pedro Espinoza took pride in his gang affiliation.
The 18th Street gang member, with slick black hair and tattoos on his neck and arms, once bragged to a parole supervisor that he aspired to land on death row for his allegiance, prosecutors said.
On Friday afternoon, Espinoza was granted his wish.
The 23-year-old was sentenced to death for the 2008 murder of Jamiel Shaw II, a standout football prospect for Los Angeles High School who was killed as he walked home from a friend’s house.
Espinoza sat silent and stone-faced as Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Rose handed down the sentence, showing no reaction.
Some of Shaw’s family members wore red to the courtroom — the color that fueled Espinoza’s violence — and fought tears during the nearly three-hour hearing. “It’ll be OK. This is going our way,” one family member said, comforting a relative during a midday recess.
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