Coworkers, family of slain cop speak at sentencing of his killer
By Felix Cortez
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SALINAS, California (KSBW) — In a Salinas courtroom Tuesday, Gustavo Morales was described as a coward, a monster, a menace to society, and the devil’s hitman.
The gang dropout changed lives forever when he ambushed and murdered Salinas officer Jorge “JD” Alvarado during a traffic stop last year, just two weeks before he was to get married.
“We just were about to start a family and bring grandchildren into the world. And, you know, his family got impacted. They lost their youngest brother and impacted all of us and impacted his friends, his coworkers. It’s just our lives will always be forever changed, we’ll never be the same,” said Veronica Alvarado, JD’s fiancé at the time of his murder.
During Morales’s sentencing, a fellow officer who was first on the scene of the deadly shooting told the court she may never again put on the uniform because of Morales’s actions. Others who gave victim impact statements, including coworkers and family, said Morales stole their loved one and took away a selfless dedicated public servant.
Judge Rafael Vazquez said Morales’ “cold and callous actions destroyed the hopes and dreams of the Alvarado family.”
Judge Vazquez also said Morales’ “actions caused considerable chaos, fear and panic to rip through the Salinas community … the maximum punishment must be imposed in the interest of justice.”
The judge then sentenced Morales to a mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole and another 25 years to life for special circumstances the jury found him guilty of.
“I mean, if we could have had, you know, death penalty, it would have been nice. But California life without parole is the best thing our family can, you know, agree on. And, you know, it’s what we all wanted, so it was the fair sentence and justice was served, and me and his family, I mean, Jorge’s family, can rest in peace, and heal properly,” Veronica Alvarado said.
Throughout the trial, Morales showed little remorse or regret, and during Tuesday’s sentencing, he was occasionally yawning, and at one point, he was smirking when a family member made a comment in court.
“You think about a young man of 25 years old about to get married and start his own life and the only fault that he had was he chose to serve this community and he gave his life for it. And then you see somebody like that was just wasting people’s oxygen just by sitting there,” said Salinas police Chief Roberto Filice.
“His demeanor, where he’s yawning, smirking, is just consistent with how he testified at trial, where when he said he had no regrets, he was smiling when he said that, during trial. And it just shows you that this guy is a sociopath,” added prosecutor Christopher Knight.
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