No decision yet on death penalty in Fontana rape, killing

Pictured: Sylvia Galindo

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty against a man charged with raping and killing a woman at a Fontana bakery in 2001.

Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Youngberg estimated that a decision in Gilbert Bernard Sanchez's case may be announced in about a month.

Sanchez, 47, was linked by DNA in 2006 to the then-unsolved strangling death of 30-year-old Sylvia Galindo, who was killed after-hours on Oct. 18, 2001 at Maria's Panaderia in the 15300 block of Merrill Avenue.

A decision to pursue the death penalty against Sanchez would have to be approved by District Attorney Michael Ramos, Youngberg said.

Sanchez was held to answer on charges of murder, rape and others last month at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing. He entered not guilty pleas at an arraignment hearing last week in Fontana Superior Court, and is next due in court Sept. 11.

Click here to read last month's story on Sanchez's preliminary hearing.