How Many Years Can You Get for Second-Degree Murder in Los Angeles?
The selected records report Moran’s 15-years-to-life multi-count outcome and Varela’s life-without-parole-plus-eight-years outcome. The latter includes peace-officer findings and other convictions; its additional years are not a numeric murder-only endpoint. Varela’s 2020 appellate opinion affirms the judgment after two jury stages in one prosecution. These are different reported judgment scopes, not an ordinary-murder range or proof that every later remedy ended.
Quick Answer
- Reported prosecution clusters: 2
- Locations: South Los Angeles and Harbor City/Wilmington area
- Outcome types: a life maximum with parole possibility versus life without parole plus additional years
- Comparable range: not calculated because a special peace-officer rule and additional counts apply
- Sample warning: small selected public-reporting sample
See the Los Angeles hub, compare gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury, and read our methodology.
What Is Second-Degree Murder in California?
California murder law distinguishes first- and second-degree murder. Penal Code §190 supplies the punishment framework. Second-degree murder can arise from express or implied malice, including some extremely dangerous driving cases, but a conviction for vehicular manslaughter is not automatically a murder conviction. The actual judgment controls the article assignment.
Statutory Sentence
Penal Code §190(a) generally provides fifteen years to life for second-degree murder. Section 190(b) provides twenty-five years to life when the victim is an on-duty peace officer and the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that status. Section 190(c) provides life without parole when that peace-officer circumstance and one of the listed additional findings is present. Section 190(d) addresses a specified drive-by shooting circumstance. These current statutory categories are background, not a reconstructed historical charge or allocation for every case. Life without parole is distinct from a life sentence with possible parole and is not converted into a fixed number of years.
Reported Outcomes
| Case | Los Angeles conduct | Convictions | Reported total | Allocation note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Moran | January 14, 2017 crash at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard/Arlington Avenue; source describes South Los Angeles | Second-degree murder plus hit-and-run causing death and injury | 15 years to life | May 11, 2018 sentencing release reports a total with additional hit-and-run convictions; count allocation uninspected |
| Mynor Enrique Varela | May 3, 2014 crash near Senator Avenue/Anaheim Street; municipal-point check incomplete | Second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, two assaults on peace officers, and hit-and-run | Life without parole plus 8 years | Special peace-officer facts and multiple convictions make this noncomparable to an ordinary §190(a) case |
Case Details
Kevin Moran: The May 11, 2018 release announces that day’s sentence following March 13 jury convictions in BA453703. The hit-and-run death/injury convictions are distinct counts in the same crash prosecution, not extra cases or independently allocated terms.
Mynor Enrique Varela: The October 18, 2018 release reports that day’s life-without-parole-plus-eight-years sentence in NA099063. The April 2017 jury resolved assault and leaving-scene counts; murder and gross vehicular manslaughter were retried in August 2018, not independently prosecuted new incidents. The October 16, 2020 opinion, B293471, court text hosted by CaseMine, identifies the officer/vehicle-as-weapon findings and affirms the judgment. It identifies the manslaughter count under section 192(c)(1), not an invented intoxicated section 191.5 conviction.
Why No Single Observed Range Is Claimed
The first outcome aligns with the ordinary fifteen-years-to-life framework, while the second includes a peace-officer victim, additional statutory findings, and multiple convictions. Treating the two endpoints as though they measured the same sentencing posture would obscure the legal reason for the difference.
Second-Degree Murder vs. Fatal DUI or Manslaughter
Fatal driving conduct may be prosecuted as gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, other vehicular manslaughter, or second-degree murder depending on the proven mental state and facts. This page includes only completed judgments expressly identifying second-degree murder. It does not move manslaughter-only cases into a murder sample.
Methodology and Limitations
Two reported crash prosecutions are retained with sentence and source scope separate. Moran remains the same prosecution described in the hit-and-run guide; Varela’s first trial, retrial and appeal do not add independent clusters. Agency descriptions and the defendant’s Harbor City residence do not certify the exact incorporated-city point. Exhaustive later-review, original allocation and historical-law checks remain incomplete. Relevant one-page agency releases, court-text copy and current section 190 text were actually read September 28, 2026.
Sources
Disclaimer
General information only, not legal advice.