The Los Angeles County District Attorney announced murder charges on Tuesday against a 19-year-old man who broke into a Lancaster home earlier this month and shot four people in their sleep.
Miguel Diego Sandoval allegedly shot 23-year-old Matthew Montebello, 29-year-old Christine Aca-ac, her 24-year-old brother Janvi Maquindang, and 24-year-old Edwin Garcia then set fire to the house in an attempt to cover up up the crimes, the district attorney’s office said.
Garcia, Aca-ac, and Maquindang were pronounced dead at the scene, and Montebello died at a hospital from his injuries.
According to KABC, a 16-year-old girl, a sister to Aca-ac and Maquindang, was also at the home but hid in her bedroom and called 911. She was rescued from the burning house and not physically injured.
“The family member we have at the station heard the gunshots around 1:27 [on the morning of November 16] … she stayed in her room because she was scared, and that’s when deputies were able to locate her and extract her,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Steve Dejong.
The sheriff’s department said that other people lived at the home but were not present when the shooting took place.
Montebello’s mother told KABC that her son was Maquindang’s boyfriend and that Aca-ac and Garcia were engaged to be married. She said she knew the name of the suspect but never met him — he was the ex-boyfriend of one of the siblings.
Police have not divulged a motive for the horrific crime. Sandoval has been charged with four counts of murder, one count of first-degree residential burglary with person present, and one felony count of arson of an inhabited structure or property. Special allegations added to the charges were the suspect was lying in wait, multiple murders were committed, the suspet used a handgun, and another person was present.
