Jurors recommended Tuesday that a gang member who opened fire on seven people outside a San Jacinto home, killing one, be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Salvador Venegas, 36, was convicted last month of the Feb. 5, 2014, killing of Runar Claus, 37, of Hemet, who was shot in the driveway of a residence where he was talking with a group of friends.
Venegas was found guilty of murder and six counts of attempted murder, and jurors found true a special circumstance allegation of committing the murder to benefit a criminal street gang, triggering the second phase of the trial, in which the panel weighed whether he should face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
He will be formally sentenced on Feb. 22.
Prosecutors saidVenegas and an unidentified second person approached the group and asked “Where you from?,” then began firing on the group before anyone could answer. Claus was struck in the abdomen and taken to Hemet Valley Hospital, where he later died.
Venegas was arrested in Hemet about three weeks after the killing following a short pursuit of a vehicle in which he was a passenger.
Investigators said Venegas was placed at the shooting scene through data recovered from a GPS ankle monitor, which he was required to wear as part of a bail agreement stemming from a gun possession case.