Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Deputy’s Killer

A Superior Court jury in Norwalk recommended the death penalty Tuesday for a 26-year-old man who was convicted of killing a sheriff’s deputy in 1997.

Enrique Parra Duenas is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22 for the slaying of Deputy Michael Hoenig, 32, who had been a marshal and deputy for 10 years.

Judge Dewey L. Falcone can follow the jury’s recommendation or imprison Duenas for life without parole. Duenas was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder, murdering a peace officer in performance of his duty and lying in wait.

Hoenig’s father, Bob, said he had mixed feelings about the death penalty decision. “I’m pleased with the punishment that was given out in one respect, but I am not a violent person and we’re taking someone’s life,” he said.

Hoenig was on patrol alone in South Gate on Oct. 30, 1997, when he decided to trail a bicycle-riding suspect who was acting erratically.

Duenas was ordered to stop at Seminole and Pescadero avenues about 1:20 a.m. Instead, he turned and began firing a .45-caliber pistol.

Duenas disabled Hoenig with shots into his leg and shooting hand before firing the fatal one into his throat, missing the officer’s bulletproof vest by half an inch, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence C. Morrison said.