Man convicted of shooting 2 California cops in ambush

A gunman who ambushed two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies in 2020, shooting them at point blank range as they sat in their cruiser at the Compton Metro station, was found guilty of attempted murder and other counts Thursday, Sept. 28.

After deliberating for days, jurors convicted Deonte Lee Murray, 39, of all the charges against him, said Deputy District Attorney Stephen Lonseth.

The charges included two counts of attempted murder for shooting Deputies Claudia Apolinar and Emmanuel Perez-Perez on Sept. 12, 2020. Footage of the attack from a nearby security camera showed Murray calmly walking up to the deputies in their SUV, then opening fire before fleeing.

The jury also found Murray guilty of one count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carjacking and robbery, and four counts of possessing a firearm as a felon.

Murray faces a potential life prison term, Lonseth said.

“Today, justice has been served,” L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement after the jury’s ruling. “This verdict reaffirms our commitment to protecting those who serve and sends a clear message that acts of violence will not go unpunished.”

During the trial, Lonseth told jurors that, in total, Murray shot four people during a nearly two-week spasm of violence, which was partly set off after Sheriff’s deputies shot Murray’s best friend to death while serving a search warrant at his home.

But Lonseth disputed that Murray’s actions were truly impulsive. He said investigators learned Murray expressed surprise to a friend after the shooting that the deputies hadn’t died.

Murray “did everything he could to end the lives of Claudia Apolinar and Emmanuel Perez-Perez,” Lonseth said.

“They’re alive because of frankly a miracle,” he said. He noted Apolinar, despite being shot in the jaw and with both arms broken from the gunfire, still attempted to render aid to Perez-Perez.

Despite testimony that Murray’s later shootings were tied to his desire for revenge, the first attack he committed on Sept. 1, 2020 was seemingly random. On that day, Murray shot a man in his leg with a rifle, then carjacked his Mercedes-Benz.

Murray would use the luxury vehicle in all three attacks days later.

On Sept. 10, 2020, deputies shot Murray’s best friend, Samuel Herrera, Jr., to death at his Compton home while serving the search warrant. The Sheriff’s Department said at the time that Herrera had fired at them when they approached his garage, though family of Herrera have disputed their account, according to Knock LA, an L.A.-based news nonprofit.

Earlier in the trial, Lonseth said after Herrera’s death, Murray “lost it” and “sought to take out revenge” on Sheriff’s deputies.

The same day as Herrera’s shooting, Murray opened fire on a man he mistakenly believed was a detective in an unmarked car near the Compton courthouse. Two days later, Murray ambushed Apolinar and Perez-Perez.

Murray was under the influence of both drugs and alcohol at the time of the attack on the deputies, said his attorney, Katie Hardie.

During the trial, both Apolinar and Perez-Perez testified. Murray also testified in his own defense.

In uniform on the stand, Apolinar told jurors that she heard gunfire and that her vision went blank for a few seconds after she was shot. A bullet had shattered her jaw, and partially severed her tongue. She said a sheriff’s dispatcher couldn’t understand her when she called them for help.

As she called, she looked over at Perez-Perez, who was struggling to put on a tourniquet. His face and right arm were covered in blood.

Apolinar testified that she did not see Murray at all during or after the shooting. Neither deputy fired back.

Murray will return to court on Monday, Oct. 16 to be sentenced.

SCNG staff writers Nathaniel Percy and Josh Cain, and City News Service contributed to this story