October 02, 2026
Deputy Killer Sentenced: Life Without Parole for the Murder of Ryan Clinkunbroomer
Headline card by The Night Desk
Kevin Cataneo Salazar has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the September 16, 2023 murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer.
Clinkunbroomer was a fourth-generation deputy, and he had gotten engaged just four days before he was ambushed and shot at a Palmdale stoplight. The jury convicted Salazar of first-degree murder with all special circumstances found true, and found him legally sane. The judge denied a new-trial motion — and, noting that prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, remarked that "this punishment does not fit the crime."
The sentence closes the criminal case, but the loss still echoes through the department: Clinkunbroomer came from a family steeped in the badge, and his killing — a targeted ambush at a red light — shook law enforcement across Southern California.
Life without parole means exactly what it says. Salazar will never walk free again.
Source: MyNewsLA / Los Angeles Times
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