2 men sentenced to 25 years to life after killing California college student, dumping body in river

Two men who ordered a college student into the trunk of his own car, shot him dead apparently for hanging out with people the killers didn’t like and then dumped his body in the San Gabriel River near Long Beach’s El Dorado Park were sentenced to 25 years to life each after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, authorities said.

Rueben Alexander Ortega, 26, of Lakewood and Edgar Miguel Espinoza, 25, of Downey entered their pleas in Long Beach Superior Court on Thursday, Aug. 3 — seven years to the day after the crimes took place. They were immediately sentenced, prosecutor John Chang said.

Ortega and Espinoza ordered the victim, 19-year-old Nick Cubas of Downey, into the trunk, tied him up, drove him to an alley and Espinoza shot him multiple times with a shotgun at close range, according to testimony at the 2017 preliminary hearing.

Ortega and Espinoza then drove Cubas’ body south to Long Beach and dumped it at the San Gabriel River near Willow Street, authorities said. The body was discovered the following morning, and the two men were arrested less than a month later.

Long Beach police Detective Oscar Valenzuela testified at the preliminary hearing that one of the two men was heard in a recorded jailhouse conversation admitting to an informant that he told the other to shoot the victim.

“Pull the trigger,” the man on the recording was heard saying, Valenzuela testified. “Pull the trigger. Dome him.”

Both men incriminated themselves during recorded jailhouse conversations, Valenzuela testified, adding that Ortega seemed to brag, laugh and joke about the killing.

Ortega told an informant he was part of a small group that acted like a gang and fought with other crews from local high schools, prosecutors said. He told the informant Cubas consorted with “the enemy” and was “guilty by association,” Valenzuela testified.

Cubas’ mother, Patricia Sarmiento, has said that her son was attending business classes at Cerritos College and living at home in Downey. He was working on creating a clothing brand.

Two others who helped Ortega and Espinoza cover up the killing were sentenced to three years of probation in 2017 after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact, court records show.

Other charges against the two men, including kidnapping for carjacking and second-degree robbery, were dismissed as a result of their pleas.