19-year-old charged with 4 counts of murder in shooting before Lancaster house fire
LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- A 19-year-old man has been charged with murder for the shooting deaths of four people as they slept at a Lancaster home that later erupted in flames, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Miguel Diego Sandoval is accused in the Nov. 16 killings of Christine Aca-ac, 25; her brother, Janvi Maquindang, 21; Edwin Garcia, 24, and Matthew Montebello, 23, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
The charges include the special circumstance allegations of murder while lying in wait and multiple murders, along with allegations that he used a gun.
Sandoval is also facing one felony count each of first-degree residential burglary with a person present and arson of an inhabited structure or property.
Sandoval allegedly burglarized the home where the four victims were sleeping and shot them, then set fire to the house to cover up the crime, the D.A.'s office said.
Aca-ac, Garcia and Maquindang were pronounced dead at the scene. Sheriff's deputies pulled Montebello from the burning house in the 44500 block of North Tabler Avenue, near East Avenue J and Challenger Way, but he died later the following day, authorities said.
Another person inside the house was not injured, authorities said.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of these four lives, including a brother and sister, who were callously shot as they peacefully slept in their beds," District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement announcing the charges. "This shooting has devastated the Lancaster community, and our hearts go out to the victims' families, who are suffering from this sudden, incomprehensible loss."
Sandoval was arrested Nov. 21 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and has remained behind bars since then, jail records showed.
He is scheduled to appear in a Lancaster courtroom on Jan. 27 for arraignment.
City News Service contributed to this report.
