Inglewood man convicted of killing 3, attempting to murder 2 others

An Inglewood man was facing the possibility of life in prison Friday following his conviction for murdering three people and trying to kill two others, including his pregnant girlfriend, in two separate shootings in Gardena and Lynwood on the same day.

Selvin Fabian Salazar, 32, is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for the July 31, 2018, shootings of 28-year-old Dolores Sanchez; his own best friend, 28-year-old Francisco Montes; and Saith Pedraza, who died just over two years later at age 39 after a gunshot wound to his neck that left him a paraplegic.

Jurors convicted him Thursday of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and single counts of intimidation of a witness, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was acquitted of a single count of kidnapping.

Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.

Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 23.

In her closing argument Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Kendra Carman told the Torrance jury that the defendant believed his pregnant girlfriend was "setting him up" with a rival gang to kill him.

The prosecutor told jurors that the only issue in question would be whether Salazar had an altered mental state at the time of the shootings due to his use of methamphetamine.

"The issue before you is did the defendant intend to kill ... or did he only intend to shoot," the deputy district attorney told the panel, arguing that he acted with the intent to kill.

The prosecutor said Salazar waited to open fire until Sanchez and Pedraza were "trapped," and that he only missed his target once.

Salazar then shot his own girlfriend in the neck before running to Montes' car and telling him to drive him to a friend's house, Carman said.

The defendant subsequently took phones belonging to his best friend and that man's girlfriend when she said she was going to call police, and then shot his friend and tried to shoot his friend's girlfriend because he believed they were going to take him to a police station, the prosecutor told jurors.

Defense attorney Nancy Sperber had urged jurors to acquit her client of the most serious charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

"Is it second-degree murder? Is it voluntary manslaughter? That's your decision," she told the panel.

She argued that Salazar's brain "has been fried" because of his methamphetamine use and that her client acted "rashly and impulsively."

She said he was "irrational at that time" and that his thinking was "not normal."

Salazar's lawyer told jurors that her client was shooting at people he believed were plotting to kill him and didn't realize Pedraza was at the mobile home park in Gardena to fix a car stereo.

"He sees the enemy and the enemy might not be there," Sperber said. "Did he perceive the threat to be imminent and real? Of course."

She called the gunfire "lucky shots," and argued that they were "not well-aimed."

Salazar was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives the day after the shootings and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.