Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

A federal jury has found four members of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) guilty of carrying out three gruesome murders in the Angeles National Forest in 2017, including the killing of a victim whose heart was carved from his chest. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Eric W. Siddall prosecuted the case as a cross-designee in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, serving as a Special Assistant United States Attorney.

Following a 17-day trial, the jury on June 4 found the following defendants guilty of racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering:

Angel Amadeo Guzman, 31, of Panorama City;
Fernando Garcia Parada, 28, of Panorama City;
Edgard Velasquez, 43, of Reseda; and
Jose Jonathan Castillo, 34, of Koreatown.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. scheduled sentencing hearings for Oct. 20. The defendants face one or more mandatory sentences of life in federal prison.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

A 44-year-old man was charged today with fatally stabbing his mother’s elderly boyfriend, actor James Handy, outside a Tarzana home earlier this week.

Michael Gledhill was charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon, a knife. He is expected to be arraigned today in Department 100 of the Van Nuys Courthouse.

If convicted as charged, Gledhill faces up to 26 years to life in state prison. Prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $2.02 million.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed an indictment today against former Los Angeles Police Officer Clifford Proctor who was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Brendon Glenn during an altercation in Venice more than a decade ago.

Proctor was indicted by the grand jury in September 2024 on one count of second-degree murder. He was arrested in October 2025 as he was leaving the country.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Prosecutor Michael Gennaco, one of the country’s leading experts on officer-involved shootings and police use of force.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

A victory for public safety and crime victims.

California’s highest court let stand a ruling agreeing with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office that a Los Angeles judge abused her discretion when she granted mental health diversion to a man accused of a violent, racially motivated rampage with a metal pipe in Santa Monica that left one victim permanently disabled.

The Court of Appeal found that the defendant, Job Uriah Taylor, had a history of abandoning treatment, had just been released from a psychiatric facility before committing the attacks and presented an ongoing danger to the community.

He will now face trial and potentially life in prison.

While mental health diversion may be appropriate for defendants with mental illnesses who engage in low-level, non-violent crimes, our communities depend on prosecutors and the courts to keep violent criminals off the streets and not release individuals who are plainly unsuitable for mental health diversion into our communities to harm more victims.

Read more at the link in our bio.

A jury today found Clifford Chaun Loyer guilty on all counts and found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders for a 2024 two-day shooting spree in downtown Los Angeles that left two unhoused men dead and a third seriously wounded.

The jury convicted Loyer of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of premeditated attempted murder, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count each of grand theft of a firearm and grand theft auto. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation that Loyer committed multiple murders and the allegation of causing great bodily injury to the surviving victim.

Loyer is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26 in Department 109 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

A 29-year-old man has been charged with violently assaulting five different women at UCLA, four of them students, within the span of one hour. The defendant is not a student and did not have permission to be on campus.

Olumuyiwa Akindahunsi is charged with one felony count of attempted kidnapping to commit a forcible r**e, three felony counts of assault with the attempt to commit a forcible r**e during the commission of a first-degree burglary and two felony counts of assault likely to produce great bodily injury.

If convicted as charged, he faces 32 years to life in state prison. He would also be required to register as a s*x offender for life.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

During Pride Month, we celebrate Deputy District Attorney Tamar Tokat who represents the District Attorney’s Office as a legislative advocate at the Capitol in Sacramento. In this capacity, she has written legislation, testified at legislative committee hearings and advocated on behalf of the Office before the State Legislature and the Office of the Governor on matters involving public safety, criminal justice and crime victims' rights.

DDA Tokat has been a deputy district attorney for over 20 years and has prosecuted a wide range of complex cases, including murders, domestic violence, child abuse and s*xual assaults through her assignments in the Hardcore Gang and Organized Crime divisions and the Victim Impact Program.

DDA Tokat has helped train new prosecutors on jury voir dire, opening statements, witness impeachment and closing arguments. She also has trained forensic nurses and law enforcement on laws impacting s*x crimes, family violence, human trafficking victims and victim service providers. Prior to joining LADA, DDA Tokat worked as a criminal defense attorney and was a law clerk at Lambda Legal and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Crime Victims' Alliance and is co-president of the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

A member of Phi Beta Kappa and recipient of the UCLA Curtis Shepherd LGBT Leadership Award, DDA Tokat graduated cm laude from UCLA with a double major in Women's Studies and Political Science and earned her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

We thank DDA Tamar Tokat for her dedication and commitment to public safety and protecting our community!

Five gang members were convicted today for two robberies at local lookout points that occurred less than 48 hours apart, leaving three people dead.

Luis Ventura (dob 4/23/99) and Abraham Alvarenga Cortez (dob 6/16/02) were each found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a robbery.

Rossel Jose Hernandez-Ponce (dob 9/17/01) and Wendy Sarai Cerritos (dob 1/31/03) were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a robbery.

Special circumstance allegations also were found to be true. Ventura faces 25 years to life in state prison, while the other four defendants face life in prison without the possibility of parole. They are scheduled to be sentenced on June 18.

Click the link in our bio to read the full press release.

Throughout the month of June, Los Angeles County joins communities across the nation in recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Month. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office remains committed to standing alongside our community partners in a unified, countywide effort to educate residents, protect the vulnerable, and support healing for those impacted.

If you are concerned about someone, don't wait. Act. Report. Protect. Join communities nationwide on June 5-7, as we stand together to honor those we have lost to gun violence and recommit to the work of prevention, awareness and change. Wear orange. Raise your voice. Show our communities they are not alone. Learn more about gun violence, restraining orders and safety resources: publichealth.lacounty.gov/ovp/GVROs.htm