Life Sentence Handed Down In Lake Elsinore Man's Murder

A man who used a hammer to fatally beat a coworker in a robbery that netted $186 was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Tony Martinez Carrera was convicted June 7 of first-degree murder as well as robbery and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a robbery in the May 2009 slaying of 19-year-old Daniel Coronado of Lake Elsinore.

Carrera's co-defendant, Rocky Padilla, 20, was convicted separately of the same charges on April 18 and was sentenced in May to life in prison without parole.

At sentencing today, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez rejected Carrera's request for a new trial and imposed the life term after hearing from the victim's mother, father and two siblings, one of whom had just completed a four-year stint in the U.S. Army.

"This was a senseless, brutal and sadistic crime,'' Deputy District Attorney John Aki told City News Service. "There was no reason to kill this kid. He was a wonderful young man. It's really a loss.''

According to Aki, Carrera and Coronado worked together at the Jungle Island Paintball Park in Lake Elsinore, and though they weren't close, the victim occasionally shared his marijuana with the defendant.

Around the time of the murder, Carrera sought to purchase a handgun and silencer -- for reasons still unclear -- and learned that he'd need at least $200 to make the buy, which he didn't have, Aki said. After he learned Coronado had a wad of cash on him, Carrera invited him to go out partying, and the two met at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Corona on the night of May 8, 2009, court papers stated.

According to Aki, Carrera enlisted the help of Padilla, who owed him money, and the defendants left the restaurant with Coronado, driving off in Carrera's car, en route to what they convinced the victim would be an all-night party in Moreno Valley.

Along the way, Padilla, seated in the back of the vehicle, slipped a rope around Coronado's neck and started strangling him, according to court papers. The defendants drug the injured young man out of the car, then took turns striking him in the head with both the claw and round ends of the hammer, Aki said.

"They hit him 10 to 20 times, basically destroying his skull,'' he said. On May 10 -- Mother's Day -- Coronado's mother, Jeanne Graves, reported him missing.

Investigators reviewed the victim's cell phone log and identified Carrera as one of the last people to communicate with him, according to court papers.

Surveillance video from the Chick-fil-A confirmed that Coronado, Carrera and Padilla shared a table there.

On May 16, 2009, Carrera was arrested and led investigators to the victim's remains, which had been exposed to high temperatures for a week, requiring a days-long forensic exam to confirm the identity.

Padilla was located a day later in Santa Ana and arrested while trying to flee from a police K9 unit. Coronado's silver 1996 Honda Civic was located in the vicinity. It had been set ablaze.

According to Aki, the defendants robbed the victim for a total of $186. --City News Service