A man convicted of killing an 8-year-old boy in a drive-by attack on a Pomona home nearly two years ago was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty against 37-year-old Sengchan Houl, who was arrested about five weeks after the Feb. 20, 2017, shooting death of Jonah Hwang, who was inside the residence in the 1100 block of West 11th Street when he was struck by a bullet.
The child, who had been brought home from a Taiwanese orphanage less than three years earlier, was with his family having dinner with friends who lived in the house when the defendant drove by and opened fire.
The residents hosting the dinner were married school teachers with two children of their own, according to neighbors.
Houl also shot at the same home on one occasion before the murder and then again twice after the boy’s killing, according to police and prosecutors. Police said the home was unoccupied during three of the shootings.
Houl was convicted Dec. 5 of one count each of first-degree murder and shooting from a motor vehicle and two counts each of shooting at an occupied dwelling and negligent discharge of a firearm. Jurors also found true a special circumstance allegation that the murder involved a firearm being discharged from a motor vehicle.