A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering four people who had been sleeping in their Lancaster home in a crime that a prosecutor called “an act of revenge.”
Miguel Diego Sandoval, who was 19 at the time of the crime, is facing four consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole for the Nov. 16, 2024, shootings of Christine Aca-ac, 25; her brother, Janvi Maquindang, 21; Edwin Garcia, 24, and Matthew Montebello, 21.
Sandoval is set to be formally sentenced Nov. 17 by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, three felony counts of cruelty to an animal involving three dogs that subsequently died in a fire and one felony count each of first-degree residential burglary with a person present, arson of an inhabited structure, attempted murder and felony child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, along with one misdemeanor count each of child abuse under circumstances or conditions other than great bodily injury or death and destroying or concealing evidence — the latter count of which he spent a lengthy amount of time discussing with his attorneys before entering his plea on that charge.
He also admitted the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait, as well as gun-related allegations.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told the judge that the District Attorney’s Office agreed to accept the defense’s offer of a plea to all of the charges and a sentence of life without the possibility of parole before a decision was reached on whether to seek the death penalty.
“This was an act of revenge,” the prosecutor said outside the downtown Los Angeles courtroom, noting that the victim named in the attempted murder count had broken up with Sandoval but was not at the home that night.
Sandoval broke into the home where the four victims were sleeping and shot them, then set fire to the house to cover up the crime, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Aca-ac, Maquindang and Garcia were pronounced dead at the scene. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies pulled Montebello — who had turned 21 six days earlier — from the burning house in the 44500 block of North Tabler Avenue, near East Avenue J and Challenger Way, and his organs and tissue were subsequently donated following a taped “honor walk” in which he was wheeled down a hospital hallway.
A 16-year-old girl locked herself inside a room and was able to get out of the house while it was burning, according to the prosecutor.
The judge heard emotional statements from more than 20 of the victims’ family members and friends after Sandoval’s guilty plea.
Montebello’s mother, Celeste, told the judge that others “got to live because of my son,” but said the victims’ lives were “reduced to ashes and a gravesite” because of “one coward.”
“He does not deserve compassion,” she said of the defendant, telling the judge that he made an “unforgivable choice.”
Sandoval’s ex, Dillon Maquindang, spoke directly to the defendant in court, saying, “You took people away from me … You did not take away my ability to live, to love … You took their lives. You did not take mine.”
In a statement read in court on her behalf, Garcia’s sister said, “Losing my brother the way I did was unimaginable … He will never be forgotten.”
Addressing the defendant, she said, “You will be remembered for the lives you took.”
Andrew Montebello called his brother his best friend and said his brother was in a coma for five days after the shooting. He was among those who called on the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
Jennifer Calhoun, the mother of Montebello’s best friend, told the judge that Sandoval took steps to disguise his appearance, waited outside in the darkness and then ambushed the four while they were sleeping in the place where they should have been the safest, saying that Garcia and Aca-ac unsuccessfully pleaded with him, “Don’t shoot.”
She said the three dogs were in cages and posed no threat to Sandoval.
He has remained behind bars without bail since his arrest Nov. 21, 2024.
Sandoval was initially charged with four counts of murder and one count each of first-degree residential burglary and arson of an inhabited structure. But a grand jury that indicted him in May 2025 added seven other counts against him, including animal cruelty, attempted murder and child abuse.