Family photo
A judge Monday reduced the sentence of one of four defendants in the 2014 killing of a University of Southern California graduate student to time served.
Jonathan Del Carmen had previously pled to a second degree murder charge in the baseball bat killing of Xinran Ji, an international student from China.
According to The Teller Report, Judge George Lomeli of Los Angeles County Superior Court said he had no choice but to reduce the charge to attempted robbery.
The prosecution did not contest the judge’s decision and stated in court there was insufficient evident to prove Del Carmen showed a disregard to human life.
The judge based his decision on a new sentencing law passed in 2018.
The sentences of three other defendants in the case had previously been upheld.
Alejandra Guerrero and Alberto Ochoa are both serving life in prison and Andrew Garcia is serving a life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A representative of the Ji family said they are having a tough time with Judge Lomeli’s ruling.
“When making laws, legislators should always keep in mind the feelings of the victim’s family,” the spokesperson said.
Authorities believe Del Carmen participated in the robbery of Ji, but did not take part in the actual beating.
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