A man convicted of strangling a 78-year-old woman in broad daylight on the patio of her Alhambra condominum was sentenced Thursday to 26 years to life in state prison.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus said DNA evidence made it “absolutely clear” that Milton Chavez, now 28, killed Moon-Yung Cheung outside her home in the 1800 block of West Garvey Avenue on Feb. 15, 2017.
The judge — who said he believed Chavez was “looking for some kind of opportunity to get money” — said the defendant had done “two terrible things” by strangling the woman and then preventing her daughter from seeking medical help for her mother by locking her out of the condominium after she came outside to check on the victim.
“This is a sad day and there is no way to make up for the loss of Moon Cheung,” Marcus said, calling the victim “particularly vulnerable” and the sentence “completely justified.”
Chavez was arrested later that day while hiding in a nearby shed.
He was convicted June 6 of first-degree murder, along with an allegation that he personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon — shoelaces.
In a statement read in court by Deputy District Attorney Elena Camaras Abramson, the victim’s daughter said “the loss of a parent happens to almost everyone, but the way we lost ours in such a traumatic circumstance was devastating.”
“It’s all because of you, Milton Chavez. Our family is forever in pain and sorrow of the loss of a beloved. Her husband lost a wife. Her children lost a mother. Her grandchildren lost a grandmother … without a goodbye or a hug,” Connie Ng wrote. “You took away her life in such a vicious way with no regard of human life … You have been brought to justice, but you can’t give her life back. You are still breathing the air while you took that chance of breathing away from her.”