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Former Marines who killed Marine sergeant and bride sentenced: one sentenced to death, the other to a no-parole life in prison

RIVERSIDE - Two former Marines who took part in the killing of a Marine sergeant and his bride during a home-invasion robbery at the couple's French Valley home were sentenced today, one to death and the other to a no- parole life prison term.

The triggerman, Emrys Justin John, 23, and 25-year-old Kevin Darnell Cox were convicted with another man for Oct. 15, 2008, slayings of 24-year-old Janek Pietrzak and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak. John was sentenced to death and Cox to two consecutive life terms.

Last month, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian Thierbach imposed capital punishment on 25-year-old Tyrone Lloyd Miller.

Cox continued to profess his innocence during the sentencing hearing today.

''Even after I got arrested ... I didn't think I'd be here today. I still don't think I should be. Remorse and regret are different things,'' he said.

Cox apologized ''for what happened'', but said he doesn't feel he ''did anything to be here for it.''

Glenda Faye Jenkins, Jenkins-Pietrzak's mother, said that ''the love I have for her was always in my heart before he was born and still continues to be in my heart. It will always be in my heart for the rest of my life.''

Miller, Cox and John were convicted June 5 of first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations that multiple lives were taken in the same crime and that the killings occurred in the course of a robbery and a burglary. Jurors also convicted Miller of sexual assault.

A fellow Camp Pendleton Marine, 25-year-old Kesaun Kedron Sykes, is expected to be tried on the same charges before year's end.

According to Deputy District Attorney Dan DeLimon, the four Marines wanted to get inside the Pietrzaks' two-story house at 31319 Bermuda Ave. in French Valley to steal their belongings, and to indulge in a power trip.

''This was about ... taking pleasure in the sexual humiliation of a woman and tormenting her husband by making him watch,'' DeLimon said.

Miller testified that he was displeased with Pietrzak because he had told him only a day or two earlier that his chances of being promoted to corporal were nil.

The defendants later told sheriff's investigators that they were mainly interested in the ''stuff'' they might be able steal from the victims, who had received numerous gifts at their wedding just two months earlier.

The three defendants, armed with shotguns, forced their way into the home and beat Pietrzak into submission, authorities said.

The victims were bound and gagged and thrown face-down on a sofa. After spending 90 minutes ransacking the house and hauling stolen goods to a vehicle parked outside, Miller and Sykes stripped Quiana and violated her sexually, according to the prosecution. John shot the couple execution- style with a 9mm handgun.

The victims had been married 68 days.

Ex-Marines who killed young sergeant and wife to be sentenced today

Riverside - Two ex-Marines who killed a young sergeant and his bride during a home invasion robbery at the couple's French Valley residence are slated to be sentenced today. Kevin Darnell Cox, 25, and Emrys Justin John, 23, were convicted along with a third man of the Oct. 15, 2008, slayings of 24-year-old Janek Pietrzak and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak.

Separate juries in June recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole for Cox and a death sentence for John. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian Thierbach is expected to uphold the recommendations today. Last month, Thierbach imposed capital punishment on 25-year-old Tyrone Lloyd Miller, the alleged brains behind the robbery-murders.

''This individual has no soul,'' said Henryka Varga, the mother of Janek Pietrzak, during the sentencing hearing. ''He savagely murdered our beautiful children. He killed me as well.'' Both Varga and Quiana's mother, Glenda Faye Jenkins, told the court that they relive their children's last moments every day.

''My lights went out when I lost my only child,'' Jenkins said tearfully. ''She was a little angel. I am a human body that's a shell now. I walk and talk with an empty heart.

''I keep thinking, 'What was Quiana's crime?' She and Janek didn't deserve to die like this -- put down like wounded animals. Now they're buried in the ground with no food, no water. The ones who did this should experience the same thing.''

The defendants were convicted June 5 of first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations that multiple lives were taken in the same crime and that the killings occurred in the course of a robbery and a burglary. Jurors also convicted Miller of sexual assault.

A fellow Camp Pendleton-based Marine, 25-year-old Kesaun Kedron Sykes, is expected to be tried on the same charges before year's end. According to Deputy District Attorney Dan DeLimon, the four Marines wanted to get inside the Pietrzaks' two-story house at 31319 Bermuda Ave. to steal their belongings -- but also to indulge in a power trip.

''This was about ... taking pleasure in the sexual humiliation of a woman and tormenting her husband by making him watch,'' DeLimon said. Miller testified that he was displeased with Pietrzak because he had told him only a day or two earlier that his chances of being promoted to corporal were nil.

The defendants later told sheriff's investigators that they were mainly interested in the ''stuff'' they might be able steal from the victims, who had received numerous gifts at their wedding just two months earlier.

The three defendants, armed with shotguns, forced their way into the home and beat Pietrzak into submission. The victims were bound and gagged and thrown face-down on a sofa. After spending 90 minutes ransacking the house and hauling stolen goods to a vehicle parked outside, Miller and Sykes stripped Quiana violated her sexually, according to the prosecution. John shot the couple execution- style with a 9mm handgun.

The two had been married 68 days.

 

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