By DON THOMPSON Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Mexican immigrant in the country
illegally pleaded guilty in an emotional hearing to killing a
Fiji-born California police officer, a case that President Donald
Trump used to bolster his call for tougher border security.
Paulo
Virgen Mendoza. (Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department via AP,
File)�
Under a deal with Stanislaus County prosecutors, Paulo Virgen
Mendoza on Thursday admitted fatally shooting Cpl. Ronil Singh of
the Newman Police Department during a traffic stop early Dec. 26,
2018.
He pleaded guilty to murder and admitted to multiple special
circumstances and the use of a gun; the deal will spare him the
death penalty. The district attorney’s office had said in May it
would seek his execution if he was convicted.
Investigators said Virgen Mendoza shot Singh after the police
corporal stopped him early the day after Christmas on suspicion of
driving under the influence.
Virgen Mendoza, who was using the alias Gustavo Perez Arriaga,
was
arrested two days after the slaying.
Singh’s widow, Anamika Singh-Chand, broke down in sobs on the
witness stand Thursday. “He loved his American dream of becoming
a police officer,†she said. “He wanted his son to also be a
police officer.â€
She recalled how the family celebrated Christmas together before
he kissed his 5-month-old son on the forehead, then “he told me,
‘I love you and I’ll see you in the morning.’ â€
Then came the 2 a.m. knock on the door from a fellow officer and
the nightmarish ride to a hospital surrounded by officers from
multiple agencies, where she learned he had died.
She told Virgen Mendoza that he “tore away my dreams … tore
my love away from me and left me silently screaming.â€
She initially carried their child to the witness stand with her
to show him to Virgen Mendoza, but handed him off when he began
crying.
Virgen Mendoza deserved the death penalty, she told Judge Ricardo
Córdova, but she accepted his life-without-parole sentence
“since this is California and we would most likely not get
it.â€
California has not executed anyone since 2006 because of legal
challenges, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has imposed a moratorium on
executions so long as he is governor.
Virgen Mendoza prompted a lengthy discussion about whether he
understood the consequences of his life sentence after he began
quoting the Book of Revelations in Spanish, predicted the “end of
time†will come in 2025 and said God “has revealed to me that
he is going to resurrect the officer.â€
“God has forgiven me, and I ask forgiveness with my entire
heart from the family. It was not my intention,†he said.
Córdova eventually decided Virgen Mendoza understood his rights
and accepted the plea.
“I hope that every morning when you wake up you think about
what happened and … why you are in prison†he told Virgen
Mendoza. “That is a pain you will have, your family will have.
But the pain is a lot greater for the Singh family.â€
Virgen Mendoza was in the country illegally. His brother and
another man, who also were in the country illegally, were
later convicted by a federal jury of aiding Mendoza as he tried
to escape to Mexico. Three others, including his girlfriend,
pleaded guilty and two more were acquitted. All faced deportation
proceedings.
The case reignited debate over California’s sanctuary law that
limits cooperation by local authorities with federal immigration
authorities. Trump used the slaying to bolster his argument for
tighter immigration security amid a fight with congressional
Democrats over funding for a border wall.
Virgen Mendoza spoke in Spanish as he sat between his attorney
and a translator, wearing a striped jail uniform.
“I stopped at a store and I bought more beer. I had been
drinking all day and all night,†he recited in Spanish from a
prepared statement. When Singh stepped away from his car during the
stop, “I shot multiple times out of the window. Corporal Singh
was shot and died.â€
Speaking about their loss, three of Singh’s fellow officers,
his widow, mother and brother all told of a man who his widow said
“always did the right thing.†He kept feeding those who were
homeless, she said, yet worried that the police chief would be
upset because they had taken to living in a Newman parking lot.
“We are more of a family than a department†with just 11
officers, Newman Police Department Cpl. Edgar Lopez said.
“Christmas time will never be the same for our department and the
Singh family.â€
“I lost a brother. This world lost a hero,†said Stockton
Police Officer Jason Da Silva, speaking to Virgen Mendoza with his
voice breaking. “You, you’re just a coward.â€
