Prosecutors charged a 19-year-old man with the murder of four people he allegedly shot in their Lancaster home and then set fire to the residence to cover his tracks.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday that Miguel Diego Sandoval was charged with shooting Edwin Garcia, 24; Matthew Montebello, 23; and siblings Janvi Maquindang, 24, and Christine Aca-ac, 29, in the early morning of Nov. 16. He allegedly broke into the home while the victims were asleep and shot them around 1:30 a.m. with a handgun.
Sandoval then set fire to the house to cover up his crimes, according to prosecutors. Although Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies rescued Montebello from the burning home, he later died from his injuries in the hospital. Garcia, Manquindang and Aca-ac all died at the scene, and another victim, described as a teenager, was in the home at the time of the killings but was not injured.
Prosecutors charged Sandoval with four counts of murder, one felony count of first-degree residential burglary with person present and one felony count of arson of an inhabited structure or property. Authorities also say that Sandoval intentionally killed the victims by means of lying in wait and committed multiple murders, according to the charges.
Sandoval is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 27 for his arraignment. He’s being held without bail and if convicted as charged could face a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
A motive for the killings has not been announced by investigators, but the victims’ relatives told news station KTLA that Sandoval was one of the roommate’s ex-boyfriend.
