LOS ANGELES — A Lakeview Terrace man convicted of murdering two of his neighbors and injuring a third after an argument about tire-screeching noises was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Richard Chico Nevarez, now 43, was found guilty last year of two counts of first-degree murder for the Aug. 28, 2016, shooting deaths of Moises Farias, 68, and Edgar Canaan, 47, along with one count each of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm — both involving the third victim, who survived.
The charges included a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with allegations that he used a handgun and that he had a 2008 conviction for first-degree burglary.
“The victims were allegedly involved in an argument with the defendant’s family over tires screeching noises,” the District Attorney’s office said in a statement in 2019. “As the argument died down, Nevarez reportedly arrived at the scene and opened fire on the victims.”
Deputy District Attorney Scott Eisen told Superior Court Judge Laura F. Priver that “this was senseless and completely unnecessary,” saying that the victims were shot either in the side or the back.
He noted that Nevarez was not even initially part of the dispute and said that the defendant indiscriminately began shooting after arriving at the scene, where the argument had de-escalated.
“There isn’t a sentence that fixes this or makes it right,” the prosecutor said.
Farias and Canaan each died after being taken to a hospital.
Farias’ daughter said her father “hated conflict” and questioned “how anyone could be so evil to murder” him.
Defense attorney Peter Korn disputed the prosecution’s characterization of what led to the shooting.
Nevarez’s lawyer told the judge that his client — who had recently been shot — was coming to the rescue of his family and that someone yelled as he was heading back to his vehicle.
“This is not a cold-blooded murder,” Nevarez’s lawyer told the judge, adding that there was “a lot of provocation.”
Nevarez was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Metropolitan Division in March 2019, and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
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