Man gets life in prison for killing off-duty police officer in Downey

A man convicted of fatally shooting an off-duty Monterey Park police officer in what authorities called a botched daytime robbery attempt in a Downey parking lot nearly four years ago was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Porras also tacked on more than 71 years to Carlos Daniel Delcid's sentence, rejecting defense attorney Rick Sternfeld's bid for a sentence that could have eventually allowed the 24-year-old defendant to go before a state parole board.

"The defendant has an increasing criminal history," the judge said of the third-strike defendant, who had two sustained petitions for assault as a juvenile and a residential burglary conviction as an adult. "The defendant is a danger to society."

Delcid was convicted May 15 of first-degree murder for the Aug. 8, 2022, slaying of 26-year-old Gardiel Solorio.

Jurors were not told that the victim was a police officer.

The panel also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of an attempted robbery and attempted carjacking, along with allegations that he personally discharged a handgun.

Delcid was also convicted of one count each of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with one count of second-degree robbery involving an April 2022 hold-up in Long Beach.

With about two-dozen Monterey Park police officers looking on in the Norwalk courtroom, the victim's brother, Carlos Solorio, urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence "with no leniency whatsoever."

He called his younger brother "a really good person" and said he "lit up our home" and brought genuine laughter.

One of the victim's sisters, Ana Solorio, told the judge that she thinks every day about the last moments she shared with her brother before he was killed, saying that his death "left a permanent hole in our family."

Another of his sisters, Eva Solorio, said he wasn't just her brother, but her best friend.

"People say time heals all wounds. It doesn't," she said, adding that there is no sentence that can "fill the void in our family."

During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Michelle Weiske called the attack on Solorio "a cold-blooded murder in broad daylight."

The prosecutor told jurors that the victim was struck by five shots fired through the driver's side window as he reversed his black Dodge Charger in an effort to flee from the parking lot of an LA Fitness gym in the 12700 block of Lakewood Boulevard, near the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway.

"Each of those shots he had time to think about pulling the trigger again," the prosecutor said of Delcid, adding that there was "no doubt" that he pulled the trigger.

Delcid's attorney had urged the jury to consider the lesser offenses of second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter involving Solorio's killing, arguing that it was the "only just and fair verdict."

He told the panel his client was "not guilty of first-degree murder with premeditation and deliberation," and said there was "no evidence" to suggest that Delcid was not intoxicated at the time of the killing as the defense contended.

Sternfeld disputed the prosecution's contention that it was a "fabricated defense," saying Delcid could be heard telling a jailhouse operative following his arrest that he had drunk alcohol that morning and smoked marijuana.

Delcid's lawyer urged the jurors to acquit his client of the robbery charge involving the Long Beach crime several months before Solorio's killing, arguing that the victim whose necklace and wallet were taken was only "75% confident" when he identified Delcid in a photo line-up 64 days later.

In his rebuttal argument, Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin called the evidence against Delcid "absolutely overwhelming."

The jury was the second sworn in to hear the case.

Shortly after the first trial began in January, the judge declared a mistrial after citing concerns that jurors might have figured out while hearing evidence in the case that Solorio was an off-duty police officer.

Delcid's attorney initially asked for a mistrial after a Long Beach police officer testified that he received information that a "Monterey Park police officer had been" -- before he was quickly cut off by Lewin -- and then again requested a mistrial after the lead detective on the case notified prosecutors that he believed he had heard the phrase "off-duty" in a recording that was played for the jury but was not contained in transcripts given to the panel.

Prosecutors had objected to the defense's request for a mistrial.

But the judge said he couldn't say for certain that "zero of them" had "put this together" and told attorneys, "I'm not going to take that chance."

Lewin had told jurors in the first trial that Solorio was "shot five times for refusing to give up that car."

Delcid was arrested in Long Beach the night of Solorio's killing, with police discovering a gray hooded sweatshirt and a mask inside the vehicle like the ones seen in surveillance video of the shooting.

The defense attorney noted that alcohol, marijuana and a laughing gas tank were found during a search of the vehicle containing Delcid and two other men, telling the panel that should be taken into consideration.

Delcid was among three people who were charged in connection with the off-duty officer's killing.

Co-defendant Gerardo Magallanes, now 22, was sentenced to 24 years and eight months in state prison after pleading no contest last year to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful firearm activity, and admitting an allegation that he furnished a firearm, along with a gun allegation.

Magallanes supplied the gun used in the killing and was a back-seat passenger in the vehicle containing Delcid and the then-17-year-old getaway driver, who was sentenced to 11 years in custody after pleading no contest in adult court to voluntary manslaughter, Lewin said last year.

Delcid's attorney told the judge that he believed there had been "disparate treatment" of his client given the sentences handed down to the other two defendants, but the judge said he didn't see it that way.

Addressing the defendant directly after the sentence was imposed, the judge said he hoped Delcid heard some of what the victim's family members were saying and understood the ripple effect on the family.

Solorio, who was a rookie just weeks out of the academy, was found unresponsive in his car by authorities and was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.

Then-Monterey Park Police Chief Kelly Gordon called his killing "a senseless act of violence."

Gordon said at a news conference that Solorio, who grew up in Bell Gardens and graduated from Cal State Los Angeles with a degree in criminal justice, joined the department as a recruit in January, and had just graduated from the sheriff's training academy in July 2022 before beginning his field training three days later.