A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has convicted Dominican-born Ethan Astaphan, 30, the owner of an illegally operating dispensary, of first-degree murder.
The victim, an employee, was buried in the Mojave Desert in 2020.
Astaphan, who managed the marijuana dispensary, and his accomplice, 34-year-old Weijia “James” Peng, were found guilty on Monday for the murder of 21-year-old Carlos Hernandez on September 22, 2020.
During the trial, the court learned that Peng employed a syringe containing ketamine while committing the crime.
Both Astaphan and Peng are scheduled to be sentenced on April 25.
Desperate search ends in tragedy
Hernandez’s mother, Yajaira, filed a missing person’s report with the Los Angeles police after her son failed to return home on September 22, 2020.
Despite widespread distribution of flyers and nearly two months of search efforts, Hernandez’s body was not discovered until November 15, 2020, by a volunteer and a cadaver dog.
Motive revealed
Prosecutors argued that the motive behind Hernandez’s murder stemmed from suspicions of theft.
Astaphan and Peng allegedly believed Hernandez was stealing money and marijuana from the dispensary.
WhatsApp messages exchanged between the defendants leading up to the murder were presented as evidence, indicating discussions about firing employees and ultimately targeting Hernandez.
Whether Hernandez stole anything was not known.
Details of the attack
The court heard chilling details of the attack on Hernandez.
Surveillance footage captured Astaphan putting Hernandez into a chokehold while Peng injected a lethal dose of ketamine.
Subsequently, the defendants transported Hernandez’s body to the desert for burial.
Trail of evidence
Critical evidence, including surveillance footage and cell phone tower pings, aided in the arrest of Astaphan and Peng.
The police arrested Astaphan and his accomplice in November 2020, with Peng being extradited to Los Angeles to face murder charges in 2022.
Testimony and legal maneuvers
Sonita Heng, Peng’s then-girlfriend, took a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony during the trial.
While Astaphan’s attorney argued for a second-degree murder conviction citing circumstantial evidence, Peng’s attorney declined to disclose his argument to jurors.
