Jury convicts Cee Vee liquor suspect of first degree murder
After less than a day of deliberation, a jury has found Christopher Turelle White guilty on all charges in the March 2005 robbery and deadly shooting of Cee Vee Liquor store owner Steven Hall and clerk Brian Gregorio in Highland.
Lawyers are still awaiting verdicts for a second defendant, 22-year-old Darwin Lamont Richardson, who has a separate jury.
Closing arguments in the case were given by the lawyers Monday, however White's jury reached verdicts later that day. Court officials waited until this morning to announce the verdicts in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Friends and family for both the victims and the defendant filled several rows in the courtroom to hear the outcome of the emotional trial. The shootings greatly impacted the Highland community, whose residents turned out for vigils for Hall and Gregorio in the days and weeks after.
"We're pretty satisfied," said Evangeline Gregorio, the mother of 25-year-old Brian Gregorio. "It has been a long time. It's been a long wait."
The seven-woman, five-man jury found White guilty on two counts of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and multiple special allegations, including for using a firearm during the acts and committing multiple murders.
Hall, 54, had moved with his mother and was her caretaker when the shootings happened.
"I miss my son so much," said Elizabeth Hall, after attending the court proceedings. "He was a wonderful person."
White faces up to life in state prison when he is sentenced Feb. 13.
Prosecutors said evidence shows Richardson, 22, cased the Cee Vee Liquor and Couch Potato Video store, located on Palm Avenue in Highland, on March 16, 2005. White, 21, and another man later robbed the store at gunpoint and escaped with money and lottery tickets.
Hall and Gregorio were shot even after complying with robbers' demands.
"There's a question that still lingers in my mind, and the question is why," said Hall family friend, Roger Sadler.
A third defendant, Tristan Darnell Allan, is still awaiting trial.
For more details and coverage of the closing remarks, click here.
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