[speeder]

Asked at the Thursday night news conference whether the Sheriff’s Department had consulted with Gascón’s office, Villanueva said yes and called the county prosecutors’ response “not satisfactory.”

“I believe their plan was to just prosecute a simple murder with no gun enhancements, no gang enhancements, nothing,” the sheriff said. “And that really did not cover the depravity of this crime…. It should be noted that the California penal code does cover all these things. The tools are there but we need to have someone who’s willing to use them.”

Murder in California generally is punishable by 25 years to life in prison. However, with a special circumstance — such as gang membership or murder in the commission of another crime — a defendant can be sentenced to life without parole.