South Bay Shooting Suspects Plead Not Guilty In Triple Murder Case

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 20-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder charges stemming from the killing of a man during a robbery along Angeles Crest Highway and the shooting deaths of two people inside a parked car during an attempted hold-up in Rancho Palos Verdes two days later.

Marco Antonio Hernandez is charged with the July 22, 2023, killing of Jesse Munoz along Angeles Crest Highway and the July 24, 2023, deaths of Jorge Ramos and Taylor Raven Whittaker, who were shot inside a parked Subaru in the 7000 block of Palos Verdes Drive.

Hernandez — who had initially been charged with robbing 32-year-old Munoz and his female companion — and co-defendants Luis Ventura, 25, and Abraham Ernesto Alvarenga Cortez, 22, were charged last September with the killing of Munoz, 32, who was shot multiple times along Angeles Crest Highway.

Hernandez was charged in January along with Rossel Jose Hernandez- Ponce, 23, and Wendy Sarai Cerritos, 21, in the killings of Ramos and Whittaker.

All four of those defendants also pleaded not guilty Thursday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

The case now includes a new count of conspiracy to commit robbery that was added by the prosecution against all of the defendants since they were ordered to stand trial Sept. 24.

At the hearing last month, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen rejected a request by defense attorneys to dismiss the case.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Leo Sanchez testified during that hearing that Hernandez and Hernandez-Ponce admitted during interviews in August 2023 and October 2023, respectively, that they had confronted Ramos and Whittaker and that they had each fired into the Subaru after the victims refused to open their doors or windows.

Hernandez said he thought one of the people inside the car was making some movements toward him and looking at him oddly, the detective testified.

Hernandez, Hernandez-Ponce and Cerritos are facing the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of an attempted robbery, and Hernandez and Hernandez-Ponce are facing allegation that they personally used a handgun during the commission of the attack on Ramos and Whittaker.

Cortez is also facing the special-circumstance allegation of murder during a robbery involving the Angeles Crest Highway attack, along with an allegation that he personally used a handgun.

All five defendants have remained behind bars since their arrests in the summer of 2023, jail records show.

City News Service