Verdicts reached for one defendant in Cee Vee Liquor robbery, homicides

Friends and family of both the victims and the defendant filled several rows in the courtroom to hear the outcome of the emotional trial. The shootings greatly impacted Highland, where residents turned out for vigils for Hall and Gregorio in the days and weeks after their deaths.

"We're pretty satisfied," Evangeline Gregorio, the mother of 25-year-old Brian Gregorio, said of the verdicts. "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 using a firearm during the acts and committing multiple murders.

A woman who identified herself as a relative of White declined to comment to reporters.

Hall, 54, had taken on the patriarch role for his family, had moved in with his mother and was her caretaker when the shootings happened.

"I miss my son so much," said Elizabeth Hall after attending Tuesday's court proceedings. "He was a wonderful person."
Steven Hall's sister, Linda Ritter, 53, said she thinks about her brother every day.

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 on Palm Avenue on March 16, 2005. White, 21, and another man later robbed the store at gunpoint and escaped with money and lottery tickets.

Despite complying with robbers' demands, Hall and Gregorio were shot, according to prosecutors.

"There's a question that still lingers in my mind, and the question is why," said Roger Sadler, a friend of the Hall family.

Evangeline Gregorio, referring to the wait for the second jury's deliberations, said she was glad the trial was almost over.

"Whatever the verdict is, it won't bring my son back," she said.

A third defendant, Tristan Darnell Allan, represents himself and is awaiting trial.