A death sentence was handed down Friday, Dec. 12 for a Banning gang member involved in five killings — sometimes just for sport — over multiple years.

In October, after deliberating only a few hours, a Riverside jury recommended capital punishment for William Arnold Armendariz III , 28, for his deadly crimes.

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni affirmed the jury’s recommendation, imposing the death sentence on Armendariz, who will be bound for California’s Death Row at San Quentin State Prison after the death warrant is formally signed on Tuesday.

The defendant remains held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.

He had pleaded guilty in July to five counts of first-degree murder and one count of attemp

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