17 December 2025 :

December 12, 2025 - California. William Arnold Armendariz Sentenced to Death

A death sentence was handed down Friday for a Banning gang member involved in 5 killings — sometimes just for sport — over multiple years.

In October, after deliberating only a few hours, a Riverside jury recommended capital punishment for William Arnold Armendariz III, 28, for his deadly crimes.

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni affirmed the jury’s recommendation, imposing the death sentence on Armendariz.

He had pleaded guilty in July to 5 counts of 1st-degree murder and 1 count of attempted murder.

Armendariz, a documented member of the East Side Banning Sapos gang, was directly involved in the slayings of 21-year-old Bradley Cunningham, 53-year-old James Lara Jr., 48-year-old Felicia McCafferty, 51-year-old Charles Neazer and 42-year-old Theresa Sanchez.

The 1st murder occurred in the predawn hours of Nov. 7, 2015, near Fifth and Williams streets, where Neazer was gunned down by the defendant, according to investigators.

On the night of July 1, 2018, he targeted Cunningham and the victim’s friend in the area of Lincoln Street and Navajo Road, killing Cunningham in the street. The victim’s friend narrowly escaped death, police said.

On the afternoon of Aug. 30, 2020, Lara, McCafferty and Sanchez were gunned down while gathered at San Gorgonio Memorial Park Cemetery.

https://mynewsla.com/crime/2025/12/12/gang-member-who-murdered-five-in-banning-sentenced-to-death-2/