Deputy’s Killer Is Sentenced to Death

A Pico Rivera man convicted of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to death Friday as Sheriff Lee Baca and a roomful of deputies sat somberly in the courtroom.

Enrique Parra Duenas was convicted by a Norwalk jury last year of the first-degree murder of Deputy Michael Hoenig, 32. The defendant was sentenced during a morning hearing by Norwalk Superior Court Judge Dewey Falcone.

As his punishment was announced, Duenas stood handcuffed and grinned, said Lt. Jim Taylor of the Sheriff’s Department’s Century station. “He didn’t seem too upset about it.”

Hoenig, a well-liked, 10-year law enforcement veteran, was eulogized by the late Sheriff Sherman Block in funeral services attended by more than 4,000 officers in 1997.

The deputy was on patrol in South Gate on Oct. 30, 1997, when he saw Duenas on a bicycle flailing his arms and acting erratically, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence C. Morrison. Hoenig ordered Duenas to stop. But instead of complying, Duenas pulled out a .45-caliber pistol and fired at Hoenig while the deputy was in his patrol car, Morrison said.

Duenas rendered Hoenig helpless by shooting him in the leg and hand, then shot him in the throat, about half an inch above his protective vest, Morrison said.

Hoenig “didn’t even have a chance,” Taylor said.

On Dec. 8, moments after the jury recommended execution, Hoenig’s father, Bob, said he had mixed feelings.

“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.

His son was described by Century station colleagues as an easygoing man who always had something nice to say. He used to carry stuffed toys in the trunk of his patrol car to comfort children after accidents, Morrison said.

The lawman’s goal was to become a firefighter, friends said. He enjoyed fishing and during his spare time planned to take the firefighter’s exam.

Sheriff Baca said that with the death sentence, “justice has been served.”

Yet, Taylor said, “this is a shallow victory. [Hoenig] will not return.”