Prosecutors with South Bay connections honored

Last night at a downtown Los Angeles hotel ballroom banquest, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys honored some of their own for jobs well done. Included in the group of honorees were some local prosecutors, former local prosecutors and those that have prosecuted local cases. They include:

Philip Stirling was honored as 2007 DDA of the year. Stirling was one of two prosecutors in the case that stemmed from the murder of Los Angeles Police Captain Michael Sparkes. The killer in that case, Miguel Magallon, was sentenced to death.

John Lonergan was honored as an outstanding Deputy DA in specialized prosecutions. Lonergan works major crimes out of the Long Beach Courthouse, and his recent cases have included Jesus Sedillo, who murdered two people in gang-related shootings in Wilmington and Ernesto Murillo, a gang member who shot into a car in Harbor City, wounding a young boy.

Lowrie Mendoza received the Outstanding Prosecutor Award for Branch and Region I. Mendoza, who works sex crimes at the Torrance Courthouse, won a conviction for Yani Leppanen, who tried to arrange a meeting online with a girl who was actually a police detective and is currently handling a cold hit DNA case against Tony Woords, for a sexual assault and hold-up at a Gardena ice cream shop, and an upcoming murder trial for Deshawnte Wade, accused of killing his 1-year-old stepson.

Martha Carrillo also received the Outstanding Prosecutor Award for Brand and Region II. Carrillo previously worked in the South Bay. Among the cases she handled was the prosecution of Basil Decatur, who got life in prison without the possibility of parole for shooting an Inglewood store-owner during a botched robbery.

The full list of winners is here: adda_flier_10-15.pdf