Man resentenced to 11 years in gas station double homicide

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man whose murder and robbery convictions were overturned in connection to a 2016 shooting in Lamont was resentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison.

Jim Langston, 48, has been in custody since 2016 and should be released soon. He was previously serving life without parole.

After his convictions were overturned, Langston pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy, and prosecutors dropped the remaining charges against him.

Some changes were also made to the sentence of co-defendant Darnell Hammond, 30, but he remains serving life without parole.

In 2021, Langston and Hammond were convicted of murder in the deaths of the owners of Quality Gas during a robbery on Oct. 14, 2016. A jury found the men acted on behalf of the Country Boy Crips street gang.

Heriberto Aceves, 60, and son Juan Luis Aceves, 27, were each shot multiple times. Two other men participated in the robbery but had not been identified at the time of the trial.

Langston, the alleged getaway driver, was prosecuted under the state’s felony-murder rule. Under the rule, a defendant, in certain circumstances, can be charged with murder even if they weren’t the actual killer but played a role in a crime that resulted in death.

The 5th District Court of Appeal earlier this year overturned Langston’s convictions, ruling the trial court was wrong in allowing the jury to hear statements Langston made to detectives before being read his Miranda rights. The murder convictions against Hammond were upheld.

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