Daughter desperate to find driver who killed dad in hit-and-run: ‘Please come clean’
KABC
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — Police and relatives are pleading with the public to help find the driver who struck and killed a father of three in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles.
Oscar Guardado was riding his bike home in south Los Angeles when he was hit by a car just before 10 p.m. on Oct. 27, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The driver fled and Guardado, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Investigators are now asking the public to help identify the suspect’s car, described by a witness as a dark, four-door sedan, LAPD Sgt. Gabriel Nily said at a news conference Monday.
There’s no video of the collision, Nily said, but video does show many witnesses were in the area at the time.
Guardado leaves behind a 19-year-old daughter, a 17-year-old son and a 14-year-old son.
“He was the best dad for us three in every way. He never gave up on us,” Guardado’s daughter, Angeles Guardado, who started a GoFundMe for the family, told ABC News on Tuesday. “We were always his first priority. And I just want people to know that he was a hard-working dad.”
“It hurts losing a parent. And honestly, I just want to know more information” about the hit-and-run, she said. “It hurt us seeing our own father in a casket. It hurt us to see that we won’t even be getting messages from our father saying that he loves us and to be careful.”
“I really want to know who the person was, and what was the reason,” she said.
Police announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the driver’s arrest and prosecution.
“I’m just looking for justice,” Angeles Guardado said at the news conference.
(LOS ANGELES) — Lyle and Erik Menendez may become free men after spending decades behind bars for killing their parents.
Here’s a look at life in prison for the notorious brothers and three paths to potential freedom:
The case
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to buying shotguns and firing 16 rounds at Jose and Kitty Menendez inside the family’s Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Prosecutors alleged they killed their wealthy parents for money, but the defense argued they acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.
The first trial, which had separate juries for each brother, ended in mistrials. In 1996, after the second trial — during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted and both sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without parole.
Life in prison
Nery Ynclan, an ABC News freelance producer and an executive producer of “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” has visited Lyle Menendez multiple times at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
She stressed that Lyle and Erik Menendez have spent their decades in prison rehabilitating themselves, as well as helping other inmates.
“[Lyle] and his brother spent their whole adult lives trying to counsel other victims of sexual abuse and start programs at the prison,” she said. “Even though they had no chance of parole, they really felt that the prison system could be improved.”
Erik Menendez has provided hospice care to inmates, their attorney said, while for the last 20 years, Lyle Menendez’s fellow inmates have elected him as their representative with the prison administration, Ynclan said.
“He’s like a soft-spoken CEO who is very busy with multiple projects,” Ynclan said of Lyle.
“He wants to talk about prison reform,” Ynclan said. “He would talk to me about the college courses he was taking. … I was really impressed that someone in their early 50s, in prison without any chance of parole … would want to take calculus and statistics to continue bettering themselves.”
With freedom now a possibility, Ynclan described this as an “emotional and tense time” for Lyle Menendez.
“For the first time in decades, he actually feels like there’s a glimmer of hope that the two of them might get home to their families one day,” Ynclan said.
Path 1: Habeas corpus petition
One track to freedom is the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which was filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.
One piece of evidence is allegations from Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed in the 2023 docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was raped by music executive Jose Menendez.
The second piece of evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos.
Through this petition, the court could change their convictions. The next hearing is set for Nov. 25.
Path 2: Resentencing recommendation goes before judge, parole board
A second path is through resentencing.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced in an Oct. 25 court filing that he was recommending the brothers’ sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life.
Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, with the new sentence, they would be eligible for parole immediately, Gascón said.
The DA’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account factors including the defendants’ ages, psychological trauma or physical abuse that contributed to carrying out the crime and their rehabilitation in prison.
“We appreciate what they did while they were in prison,” Gascón said at a news conference. “While I disapprove of the way they handled their abuse, we hope that they not only have learned — which appears that they have — but that if they get reintegrated into our community, that they continue to do public good.”
Gascón’s recommendation next goes in front of a Los Angeles Superior Court judge who will weigh factors including the crime, the brothers’ records while incarcerated and the positive impact they’ve had in prison, ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire said.
The judge will also review facts that were not available at the time of the brothers’ 1996 conviction, Buckmire said.
The judge might also consider “the science of young boys and young men being sexually assaulted,” Buckmire said. “How they respond, how they react to that abuse, and how that might not have been information that was readily available at the time of sentencing that could’ve changed the sentence.”
A hearing is set for December. If the judge agrees to resentencing, the case next goes to the parole board.
Even though the judge would have already evaluated the facts and factors, “the parole board is going to do their own investigation,” Buckmire said.
The brothers and their relatives will also get the opportunity to address the parole board, Buckmire said. In this case, the relatives are not just the family of the perpetrators, but also the family of the victims, “so they have their own rights based on both capacities,” Buckmire said.
One relative, their uncle, Milton Andersen, wants the brothers to stay behind bars, stating that he doesn’t believe they were abused and instead killed their parents out of greed.
“They are survivors and deserve a chance to rebuild their lives,” their cousin, Brian Andersen Jr., told reporters in October. “They’re no longer a threat to society.”
“If they were to come to my house, knock on my door, I would answer that door, I would welcome them in with huge hugs, my wife would make them a dinner and I’d give them a pillow and a place to sleep,” Andersen said.
A hearing before the parole board would likely take at least six months to schedule, according to the California Department of Corrections.
If the parole board recommends release, the final decision then goes to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Buckmire said.
If released on parole, the brothers would be subjected to monitoring and check-ins, Buckmire said. Parole often comes with conditions like maintaining a job and avoiding drugs, he said.
The district attorney announced days later that he supports the brothers’ bid for clemency, which would commute their sentence or grant a pardon.
Newsom is first eligible to weigh in on the clemency application on Nov. 7. The governor’s office said this is a confidential process, Newsom is not required to review the application and there is no timeline for the review.
If the governor approves clemency, the case would still likely go before the parole board.
The governor’s office intends to treat this application “like any other case,” an official at the office said. “Nobody is getting special treatment.”
ABC News’ Matt Gutman and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.
(IRVINE, Calif.) — Eight firefighters were injured when the fire truck they were driving in rolled over as it returned from battling the Airport Fire wildfire, one of several large blazes raging in Southern California.
The vehicle crashed while traveling north at about 6:50 p.m. on State Route 241 near Portola Parkway in Irvine, California, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said. Other vehicles weren’t involved with the crash, he added.
The injured were taken to four different hospitals, Fennessy said. Seven were transported by ambulances and one was airlifted by helicopter from the scene, he added. Two of the injured were in stable condition at Hoag Hospital Irvine and six were taken to trauma centers, he said.
The firefighters, which he described as a “hand crew,” had just wrapped up a 12-hour shift fighting the wildfire, he said.
“We’ll be here for our firefighters, and we ask that you pray for our firefighters and their families,” Fennessy said during a press conference. “All the families have been notified, and this is the beginning of a long road for many of those firefighters and our fire department.”
The California Highway Patrol told ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC that a vehicle driving in front of the truck swerved to avoid hitting a ladder that was in one of the lanes, causing the fire vehicle to swerve, lose control and overturn after hitting the guard rail.
(TEXAS) — A Texas woman is facing criminal charges after she impersonated a dentist despite not having a license, even giving a patient a “botched” root canal, according to court documents.
Angelica Vivas, 46, was charged with two felony counts under the Dental Practice Act, records show. She is currently out on bond.
Vivas is accused of practicing dentistry and dental surgery without a license issued by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, according to court documents.
Vivas, presenting herself as a dentist, allegedly agreed to perform a root canal on a patient that was then “botched,” according to court documents.
The victim suffered “a tremendous amount of pain” due to the defendant’s actions, according to court documents.
In another incident, undercover officers went to Vivas’ office, where she offered to perform dental work on an officer, despite not being licensed in Texas, court documents show.
A patient who claimed Vivas treated her said she was left unable to do anything on the left side of her mouth, the patient, who asked not to be named, told Houston ABC station KTRK.
The patient will still need surgery, with the damage so severe it will cost her thousands of dollars to fix, she said.
“Financially, it really hurts. I’m using my savings, looking to borrow money, because I don’t have it. I’m looking for a doctor willing to work with me,” the woman told KTRK.
While the case proceeds, Vivas is prohibited from advertising or providing any dental services.
