A state appeals court panel Wednesday ordered a new sentencing hearing for a Torrance man who acted as a lookout during a racially motivated December 2006 shooting that left a 14-year-old girl dead in the Harbor Gateway area.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ordered the case against Ernesto Alcarez to be sent back to Los Angeles Superior Court, citing a “sentencing error” in his sentence of 238 years and four months to life in state prison.
Alcarez was convicted in May 2012 of second-degree murder for the Dec. 15, 2006, shooting death of Cheryl Green, along with seven counts of attempted murder for others who were with the teen.
Jurors also found true hate crime, gang and firearm enhancements against Alcarez.
The girl’s shooting death—which occurred in broad daylight on Harvard Boulevard near 206th Street—prompted community activists and religious leaders to call for peace and unity among blacks and Latinos in the neighborhood.
