Riverside Cop Killer Gets Death Penalty

RIVERSIDE – A man convicted of killing a Riverside police officer nearly two years ago was sentenced to the death penalty on Monday.  Earl Ellis Green, 46, who was being chased by officer Ryan Bonaminio during a November crime, killed the officer after he slipped while in pursuit.  Green hit Bonaminio over the head, took his service revolver, ignoring the officer’s orders to “don’t do it,” and shot him in the head.

Earl Ellis Green was convicted of the murder of officer Bonaminio

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard ordered Green, who lived in the Rubidoux section of Riverside, to death row at San Quentin. Bonaminio had responded to the scene of a truck theft and a hit-and-run accident on the edge of Fairmount Park in Riverside on Nov. 7, 2010.  He had stopped Green on a traffic stop before the suspect took off and Bonaminio chased him on foot.  He slipped on a muddy patch.

Green, who was carrying a metal bar, beat the officer on the head.  Having been severely wounded, Green took the officer’s service revolver and shot him.  A video camera mounted on the dashboard of Bonaminio’s patrol car showed Green emerging from the semi-truck trailer with the officer in pursuit.  About two minutes later, he returned to the truck and left the scene, having already killed Bonaminio.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Green could have kept running from the scene once Bonaminio had slipped.  The officer had twice commanded to Green, “don’t do it” as the suspect came after him with the gun.  Green was arrested two days later in a different section of Riverside.  Green has a lengthy criminal past, according to records.  His attorneys had filed a motion for a new trial and a reduced sentence of life in prison without parole, which were both denied on Monday before the death sentence was declared.  Bonaminio, who was a graduate of Riverside Ramona High School, served in the military before returning home to become a police officer.

Ryan Bonaminio was killed in the line of duty in 2010

Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said he had only been on his new job four months when Bonaminio was slain, “and never got to know him, but I’ve seen the impact of his death on department.”

Read More:

L.A. Times: Convicted Killer of Riverside Police Officer Receives Death Sentence

Huffington Post: Earl Ellis Green Sentenced to Death

Fox News: Man Gets Death Sentence in Killing of CA Policeman