REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KCBS) -- The “savage and brutal” circumstances of the fatal shooting of an East Palo Alto police officer warrant the death penalty, a San Mateo Superior Court judge ruled on Monday.
The judge imposed a sentence of death by lethal injection on 26-year-old Alberto Alvarez, found guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances for the 2006 slaying of Officer Richard May. Jurors recommended the death penalty when they convicted Alvarez last November.
Alvarez stared straight ahead and seemed emotionless during the ruling, as Judge Craig Parsons recounted what he called a grim and purposeful crime.
After shooting the officer, Alvarez returned to Mays’ side and shot him twice more, once in the face.
KCBS' Matt Bigler reports
Both Alvarez’ family and Mays’ family were present for the end of a long legal ordeal.
“Some people talk about closure and moving on,” said one of Mays’ sisters, Tammy McMillan.
“It actually makes me miss my brother more because now I can truly devote my time to thinking about him and his family,” she told KCBS reporter Matt Bigler.
Alvarez relatives chose not to speak with reporters.
If Judge Craig Parsons had chosen not to accept the jury’s recommendation, Alvarez would have spent life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Recent police murders in San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties have resulted in life without parole rather than capital punishment.
(jro)
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