A San Bernardino jury recommended death for Lucero in a Victorville triple murder.

A jury death recommendation after a capital penalty phase is the panel's sentencing advice. It is not the court's final judgment until the judge rules. The Press-Enterprise reported that jurors on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, recommended death for Louis Gabriel Lucero, 42, for the 2020 murders of Erlinda Villareal and her two sons after a prior sanity finding following his guilty-but-insane pleas.

On Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, a San Bernardino County jury recommended that Louis Gabriel Lucero, 42, be put to death for killing Erlinda Villareal, 42, and her sons Jose, 12, and Jesus, 9, according to The Press-Enterprise. Superior Court Judge Cheryl C. Kersey is scheduled to appear with Lucero on Dec. 4 at the San Bernardino Justice Center to either affirm the jury's recommendation or sentence him to life without parole. A recommendation is the jury's advice. It is not the final sentence until the court enters judgment.

Reporting said Lucero shared a Victorville residence with Villareal and the boys, who were not his children. Detectives believe the three left that home with Lucero, were slain at an unknown location, and were left in the desert. An off-roader found the bodies in Apple Valley on April 29, 2020, and Lucero was arrested in Colorado the next day, The Press-Enterprise reported. Multiple-murder special circumstances made him death-eligible.

Lucero initially pleaded not guilty, then on Aug. 5 changed his pleas to guilty but insane as a jury was being seated. That jury found him sane and then deliberated about four days in the penalty phase before returning the death recommendation, according to the coverage. Prior prison and parole history from California records was reported as background. Those records are not a new finding on the 2020 murders. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.