NORWALK, Calif. (KNX) — An alleged gang member was sentenced Wednesday to live in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of a Whittier police officer, along with the murder of another man in East Los Angeles earlier the same morning.
Michael Christopher Mejia, 30, was convicted in September of two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of attempted urder, carjacking, and possession of a firearm by a felon. He also faced special circumstances allegations of murdering a peace officer, murder to avoid arrest, and committing multiple murders. Jurors also handed down convictions for gang affiliation and gun use.
According to court documents, Mejia’s convictions stemmed from the February 2017 killing of Keith Boyer, a 53-year-old Whittier police officer, the first officer in the city killed in the line of duty in nearly four decades, and 47-year-old Roy Torres. He also wounded another Whittier officer, Patrick Hazell, shot in the abdomen.
During an interview with detectives in a hospital jail ward eight days after the killings, Mejia insisted he couldn’t recall having committed the shootings.
But he later told detectives, "I guess you guys have everything down — smoked my cousin, smoked the cop … I mean, what else do you guys want? I shot another cop ... He shot me.”
The prosecutor said the Whittier officers were responding to a vehicle crash near Colima Road and Mar Vista Street in which Mejia had been involved. The prosecution called the evidence "so strong," telling jurors there the defendant had "clear intent to kill the victims in this case" and there was an "abundance of evidence" that he premeditated the shootings.
Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron told jurors that Mejia committed the crimes "to get attention" and wanted his face shown on TV news programs.
The defense countered that there was no evidence Dameron planned the murders ahead of time, and that he was intoxicated at the time. “It was all about drugs and getting high,” Mejia’s attorney said.
The prosecution contended there was no evidence of any drug-induced psychosis, suggesting the defendant understood the magnitude of his crimes at the time of their commission.
In prior interviews with law enforcement, Mejia admitted being a gang member and drug user, telling detectives, "I did it, I mean, I did it ... both of [them], all three of them had it coming," adding that the "officer got too aggressive with me."
When asked by detectives why he shot Torres, the defendant said that the victim — whom he described as a "cool cousin" — should have "kept his nose clean" and that he had "warned him."
After the verdict was read, one of Torres' relatives, Tiffany Garcia, described Mejia as "an animal" who had "no remorse."
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