A jury recently convicted a Hemet man for fatally shooting a Rialto woman on the 10 Freeway in El Monte and gunning down a father setting up for his daughter’s birthday party at an El Monte park eight years ago.
George Rosales, who also appears in the sheriff’s booking system as Jorge Rosales, faces life in prison without parole at his Oct. 14 sentencing at Pomona Superior Court.
Jurors in his second trial deliberated five hours over two days, said Deputy District Attorney Lance Hansen, who prosecuted the case.
On Tuesday, they found the 53-year-old Rosales guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of assault with a firearm as well as one count each of reckless evading police, being a felon in possession of ammunition and unlawful gun possession after a conviction.
The jury also found true the special allegation of multiple murders, Hansen said.
The gun Rosales threw during a chase involving San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies was tied to the two murders, he said.
Video showed his van was seen at both murder scenes, and cell phone evidence placed him near the shootings, according to Hansen.
“I felt we have overwhelming evidence against (him),” Hansen said.
Rosales’ attorney couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.
“They said it wasn’t him,” the prosecutor said, adding the defense argued there was insufficient evidence.
The motive behind the 2017 crime spree remains a mystery. Rosales didn’t know any of the victims, Hansen said.
On April 11, 2017, Rosales pointed a pistol at three people in El Monte, then about 30 minutes later, shot Christine Ramos, 36, of Rialto as she was driving home on the 10 freeway, Hansen said.
A tow truck driver saw a Chevrolet Malibu on the right shoulder of the 10 freeway around 4 a.m. that morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The car had collided with a wall. He stopped to offer help and saw an unresponsive Ramos, who had been shot in the head. He called 911.
Rosales appeared at his ex-wife’s apartment in El Monte around 5:30 a.m. on April 15, 2017 and asked her for gas money, Hansen said.
After he left, she heard a gunshot, the prosecutor said. The former wife lived at an apartment complex adjacent to Baldwin Avenue Mini Park, he said.
Alejandro Miranda, 35, of El Monte was setting up a birthday party for his daughter at the park located at 3750 Baldwin Ave.
Miranda told police he heard a gunshot and felt pain in his back, Hansen said, adding the victim saw a man drive off in a van.
Rosales next turned up in Fontana on the same day.
Deputies went to a call around 11:50 a.m. of a man with a gun in the 9500 block of Alder Avenue in Fontana. The man was in a Town and Country van.
Deputies tried to pull Rosales over but he drove off. The pursuit ended on the westbound 10 freeway at Euclid Avenue. Deputies arrested him and recovered a gun.
Miranda, the man shot at the El Monte park, died at a hospital on April 26, 2017 from a gunshot wound to the back, the medical examiner’s office said.
Rosales was first tried last year. The judge declared a mistrial as a result of a disturbance in court, Hansen said.
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