2 men sentenced to life in prison for 2015 murders of 2 teenage girls

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Two men were sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the brutal 2015 murders of two teenage girls at a park in Montecito Heights.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli imposed the maximum sentence on both Jose Antonio Echeverria and Dallas Stone Pineda.

The two men were convicted in September for the killings of 19-year-old Gabriella Calzada, who was seven weeks pregnant when she was killed, and 17-year-old Brianna Gallegos.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the prosecution said Echevarria and Pineda, two gang members, lured the girls to a park on October 27, 2015. One was shot in the head, and both were beaten to death and left near a hiking trail.

Their bodies were discovered by a hiker the following day.

"This court is of the opinion that the sentence of life without the possibility of parole is an appropriate and justified sentence which should be imposed," said the judge.

Attorneys for Echevarria and Pineda asked the judge to consider sentencing the two to something less than life without the possibility of parole, arguing that because the men were teenagers at the time of the murders, there was a chance of rehabilitation.

Echevarria was 18 and Pineda was 17 at the time.

"These are the worst murders that we've ever seen, and these are the worst defendants that we've ever seen," said prosecutor David Ayvazian.

The judge said the chances of these two being rehabilitated were dismal.

Even though Pineda was sentenced to life without parole, in 25 years, he could be eligible for a youthful offender parole hearing.

Lawyers in the case told Eyewitness News it's unclear what will happen next.