Rubidoux man gets 250-plus years in shootings

Rubidoux man gets 250-plus years in shootings; all 4 victims survived attack


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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, March 14, 2008

By JESSICA LOGAN
The Press-Enterprise

A Rubidoux man was sentenced Friday to more than 250 years in prison for attempting to kill four people, a crime that left one, a girl now 7, with learning disabilities and memory problems.

Superior Court Judge Peter Spinetta sentenced Max Romero III to a prison term of 200 years to life plus 56 years for four counts of premeditated attempted murder in the Nov. 18, 2005, shootings of his girlfriend, Manuela Sepulveda; her mother, Wanda Darkes; Sepulveda's 21-month-old son, Andrew Albidrez; and her 5-year-old daughter, Megan Fajardo.

Spinetta gave Romero the maximum sentence. He said a harsher sentence would show "how much we abhor this sort of a thing...and give some catharsis for the victims involved."

Megan's stepmother, Shannon Fajardo, told the court during the sentencing hearing that the bullet lodged in the girl's brain and has left the second-grader unable to tie her shoes, brush her teeth or remember what she ate 10 minutes after a meal.

"These two innocent children never did anything but give love," Darkes told the court. "I see the pain and frustration in my granddaughter's life. ... It will not be over, and (Romero) should pay for what he did."

Romero showed no emotion as the two women he shot testified in a courtroom filled with their family and friends.

"I know he is very remorseful for what happened ... he never intended to injure the children," his attorney Eric Isaac told the judge.

Deputy District Attorney Samah Shouka reminded the court that during the trial, Sepulveda testified that she had moved away from her children during the shooting to keep them safe, but Romero turned his arm to shoot them as they lay in bed.

Shouka called Romero "the worst of the worst in criminal society."

is this the dude from WSR who went nuts and tried to kill his fam a few years back or so?