A man who pleaded no contest to fatally shooting a Long Beach resident in what authorities said was a confrontation over a bicycle was sentenced Tuesday to 21 years in state prison.
Junior Alexander Munguia, now 26, pleaded no contest July 19 to voluntary manslaughter and admitted an allegation that he personally used a gun.
The charge stemmed from a Sept. 17, 2018, attack on Fernando Rodriguez, who was shot in the 1400 block of Long Beach Boulevard during an argument about who owned a bicycle, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The 46-year-old man died at a hospital two days later from a gunshot wound to the neck, according to records from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner.
Members of the victim’s family told Superior Court Judge Chet L. Taylor that they wanted “justice” for what happened.
“I want there to be justice for him because I’m never going to see my son again. I don’t want him to be anywhere near my grandchildren,” the victim’s mother, Maria, said.
The victim’s widow said, “My children were asleep and the next day they had no father … My children are suffering every day because he is not here.”
One of Rodriguez’s children said she felt “like 21 years is not enough” for Munguia, whom she said she wanted to “rot in jail.”
The victim’s sister, Ana Rosa, said she does not understand why her brother’s life was taken.
“I feel that the person who did it doesn’t have any regrets for what he did,” she told the judge.
Mungia’s attorney, Ted Batsakis, said after the hearing that what had happened was a tragedy for the victim’s family.
Munguia was arrested by Long Beach police detectives about 2 1/2 months after the shooting. He has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
He was initially charged with murder for Rodriguez’s death, but that count was dismissed as a result of the plea agreement involving the manslaughter charge.