A Montebello man who murdered a former girlfriend, her brother and father during an early morning shooting rampage in Hawaiian Gardens nearly six years ago was sentenced Friday to death.
Mercado was convicted last Nov. 12 of first-degree murder for the May 6, 2010, killings of his ex-girlfriend, Serena Tarin, 23, and her father, Alfredo Tarin, 53, and 19-year-old brother, Alfred “A.D.” Tarin. The same jury recommended a week later that he be sentenced to death.
Just before being sentenced, Mercado apologized to the victims’ wife and mother, Lucianna, who walked out during his brief statement.
“Lucianna, I’m sorry for everything I’ve done … I want you to know that I did not want to kill everybody in that house,” he said, noting that the youngest victim was “like a little brother to me that I never had.”
Lucianna Tarin — who was injured in the attack and wears her left arm in a sling — told the judge that she can no longer drive or work and that her grandchildren are afraid to hug her out of fear that they will hurt her.
She called Mercado “a cold-blooded killer” and said he will “burn in hell” for what he did.
Serena Tarin’s sister, Valerie Rodriguez, said the family experienced a “living nightmare” that morning, calling the man who had once been welcomed into the family’s home an “evil monster that caused us so much harm and pain” and “wanted us all dead.”
“I hate you, Joseph, and I hate you for everything you’ve done to my family,” she said, speaking directly to the defendant.
She told the judge that a death sentence for Mercado will “help us end this horrible chapter of our lives,” and said Mercado needs to stop sending letters to the family home. Deputy District Attorney Robert Villa told the judge that Mercado has made attempts to send mail through third parties to the family despite a court order. The judge reiterated that order, saying that Mercado is not to try to contact the victims’ family.
In urging the judge to go along with the jury’s recommendation of a death sentence, the prosecutor called domestic violence a huge problem in the U.S. and said “what the defendant did in this case is taking it to a whole new level.”
“He showed no respect for life. He was on a mission to gun down anyone he saw,” Villa told the judge.
One of Mercado’s attorneys, Daniel Nardoni, told the judge that there was “no motion any greater for a judge to rule on” than the automatic motion to reduce Mercado’s punishment to life in prison. “You literally have the power to allow someone to live,” Nardoni said, adding that life in prison was “not a walk in the park.”
The judge sided with the prosecution, saying that the crimes demonstrated “extensive planning and sophistication” and occurred in the early morning to increase the possibility of a surprise attack.
Mercado gave meat to the family’s dogs to stop them from barking, shot the family’s patriarch “in cold blood” with an assault rifle, broke into the home, executed his former girlfriend at “point-blank range” after bursting through the bathroom door where she and two other family members, including their 8-month-old baby, were locked inside and then shot and killed his ex- girlfriend’s brother, the judge said.
At the start of the trial’s penalty phase, jurors heard recordings of frantic 911 calls made by Serena Tarin and her younger brother shortly before they were killed.
“I need an officer here. My ex-boyfriend’s here and he’s not welcome here … He has no business being here … I think he’s trying to get inside,” she reported in the call made at 3:41 a.m.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,’ she said frantically after popping sounds can be heard in the background. “Please hurry. Oh my God, please hurry.”
The 911 operator asked, “What was that noise?’ with the young woman responding,”I don’t know” and later informing them of Mercado’s name and age when asked his identity.
She is later heard saying, “Joseph, don’t do this, please don’t do this … the baby,” referring to their child.
As the recording was being played in court, Mercado sat with his hands covering his face and appeared to be crying after jurors heard the recording.
The panel also heard a recording of a 911 call made by the woman’s brother shortly before he was killed.
“You’ll hear A.D. take his last breath,” the prosecutor told jurors.
“Please hurry, please help, please!’ the 19-year-old could be heard pleading in the recorded 911 call in which he reported gunshots.
A 911 operator could later be heard repeatedly asking if he was OK as a woman screamed in the background.
Authorities said shortly after the crime that Mercado was involved in a child custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend and tried to set the home on fire.
Mercado then broke into the back of the home and opened fire with an assault rifle, killing the mother of his young son and the other two victims. Two others, including Lucianna Tarin, were wounded.
About a half-dozen other family members escaped, with some hiding on the roof.
The couple’s son was later adopted by Serena Tarin’s sister and her husband.
Mercado was shot by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy as he emerged from the home that morning.
Along with the three murders, Mercado was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and one count each of first-degree burglary with a person present, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, child abuse and arson of an inhabited structure, and jurors found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder while lying in wait and arson during the commission of a murder.
He was acquitted of one count of assault with a machine gun or assault rifle on a peace officer.
— City News Service