Two Men Sentenced to Prison for Cerritos Man's Beating Death

CERRITOS, CA - Two men were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms of more than 20 years each for the beating death of a Cerritos man whose body was discovered in a parking structure in Torrance.

Ernie Lee Ramos, 35, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while co- defendant Michael Frank Trujillo, 34, was ordered to serve 20 years and eight months behind bars.

The two pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the Nov. 2, 2013, killing of Jose Frank Johnson, who died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Trujillo also pleaded no contest March 17 to a charge that he kidnapped the 42-year-old victim, and admitted allegations of use of a weapon and great bodily injury.

Ramos' girlfriend, Angelina Maria Garcia, 36, pleaded no contest last month to being an accessory after the fact and was immediately sentenced to three years state prison.

Investigators believe Johnson was killed in Carson. His body was found a day later inside a vehicle in a parking structure in the area of Pacific Coast Highway and Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance.

Authorities believe Ramos was angry with Johnson for making an unwanted sexual advance toward Garcia. Detectives said Johnson was beaten by Ramos and Trujillo -- who is Garcia's half-brother -- after he returned to the house about a month later.

Trujillo, Ramos and Garcia were arrested about 2 1/2 weeks later.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock