Steven Carrillo sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder of Sgt. Gutzwiller
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV)- UPDATE August 26, 2022, at 1:41 p.m.- Steven Carrillo, the ex-Air Force sergeant, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in a Santa Cruz County courtroom Friday.
He previously pled guilty to 9 felony and enhancement charges for murdering Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller. He will also not be eligible for parole.
Today, the coward who murdered our dear friend, father, leader and incredible man, Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Today, Steven Carrillo is being transported to a California State Prison in Sergeant Gutzwiller’s handcuffs. While nothing will bring Damon back, there is comfort in knowing the person who caused so much harm will not be capable of inflicting that harm on anyone else.
We would like to thank the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for their hard work on this case that we can now say after two years and three months, is officially closed.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
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Steven Carrillo, the former airman, who belonged to a militia group, will be sentenced for the death of Santa Cruz Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller on Friday afternoon.
The day was June 6, 2020, and deputies in Santa Cruz were dispatched to search for a white van reported to be loaded with weapons and bomb-making material.
Read more: Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office reacts to Steven Carrillo pleading guilty
When Sheriff deputies in Ben Lomond closed in on Steven Carrillo, they were ambushed.
Sgt. Gutzwiller was just 40 feet away when he was shot and killed. Carrillo was armed with a silenced automatic rifle and a homemade pipe bomb. Another deputy suffered severe injuries to his face from the shrapnel.
Carrillo has already been sentenced for the death of Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal police officer, who Carrillo and another militia man gunned down in Oakland during a Black Lives Matter protest in May of 2020.
Carrillo has admitted he has ties with the “boogaloo” militia group.
