MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR AMBUSH MURDER OF DEPUTY RYAN CLINKUNBROOMER
MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR AMBUSH MURDER OF DEPUTY RYAN CLINKUNBROOMER
PALMDALE — Kevin Eduardo Cataneo Salazar, 32, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2023 ambush killing of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.
Salazar was convicted of first-degree murder on August 24 for the September 16, 2023, shooting of Clinkunbroomer, a fourth-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Clinkunbroomer was sitting in a marked patrol SUV near the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station when he was shot in the back of the head while stopped at a red light. He was rushed to Antelope Valley Medical Center in grave condition and later pronounced dead. He had become engaged just four days before his death.
During Thursday’s sentencing, Clinkunbroomer’s mother, Kim, addressed the court.
“His life did matter. Ryan did matter. His death matters and we will carry his memory for the rest of ours. I will never stop being his mother. I will never stop grieving my son, who should be here. I will never stop loving him.”
Jurors found that Salazar intentionally killed Clinkunbroomer and found him guilty of the special circumstance allegations of murdering a peace officer, lying in wait and firing from a vehicle.
Prosecutors said Salazar personally used and discharged a .22-caliber revolver during the killing.
Salazar had previously pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Following his murder conviction, a jury later found him legally sane at the time of the killing, making him eligible for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Thursday’s sentencing brings the criminal case stemming from Deputy Clinkunbroomer’s September 2023 murder to its conclusion.
