Prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday they’d asked a judge to sentence the gang member accused of murdering a Whittier Police Officer to four years in prison in 2014.
An L.A. Superior Court judge sentenced Mejia to half that.
Mejia completed the prison term last April and was released on probation.
In the ten months since, Mejia has been arrested, jailed, and released at least five times under the supervision of L.A. County Probation Officers, until he was wounded in a shootout Monday morning and arrested on suspicion of murdering Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer.
Probation spokeswoman Kerri Webb said she could not explain how the case was handled because her office’s activities are secret, and in a written statement cited a section of the state Penal Code.
“We do, however, send our collective thoughts and prayers to the men and women of the Whittier Police Department, as well as the families and loved ones of the victims of Monday’s tragic incident,” she wrote.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she ordered a complete review of Mejia’s case.
“My goal is to bring forward everything as it relates to this case,” she said Wednesday, adding she wants to make sure agencies responsible for Mejia acted appropriately, and find out what else could be done by the County to manage increasingly dangerous criminals released from prison.
“They’re sending us individuals that are not low level offenders, and not giving us the tools to hold them accountable,” she said.
Mejia was booked by L.A. County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau detectives late Tuesday.
Prosecutors said criminal charges would not be filed Wednesday as the case is still under investigation.
— Eric Leonard (@LeonardFiles)