Man who ambushed and killed newly engaged L.A. County deputy will spend life in prison

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred A man convicted of lying in wait and shooting a third-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the back of the head with a .22-caliber revolver was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole.Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, was convicted earlier this year for the September 2023 killing of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer outside the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station.Thursday’s sentencing brings a close to a three-year legal saga in which defense attorneys, who admitted that Salazar had pulled the trigger, argued he was not legally sane at the time of the crime.

Had a jury agreed with them, Salazar would have served his sentence while receiving mental health treatment in a state hospital.Instead, he is poised to spend the rest of his life in prison.Clinkunbroomer’s parents, sister and brother gave a series of emotional victim impact statements in court Thursday.

“His life did matter, Ryan did matter, his death matters and we will carry his memory for the rest of ours,” said his mother, Kim Clinkunbroomer.“I will never stop grieving my son, who should be here.” California A guilty verdict was reached against the man accused of killing Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer in an ambush-style shooting in 2023.

Next, a jury will determine whether the shooter was sane at the time of the act.Palmdale Mayor Eric Ohlsen said the sentence brings a measure of accountability for the brazen murder.“No sentence can undo what his family and fellow deputies have carried for three years.My thoughts remain with them,” Ohlsen said in a statement.

“Palmdale will never forget his sacrifice.”Clinkunbroomer had served eight years in the Sheriff’s Department at the time of his death — following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.Four days before he was shot whil...