Tag Archives: conviction

Man guilty of double murder in 2012 Pasadena boarding house arson

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PASADENA >> A Pasadena man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him Friday of two counts of murder and other charges for torching a Pasadena boarding home in 2012, killing two men and leaving another severely burned.
A Pasadena jury deliberated for less than an hour before declaring Garth Allen Robbins, who turned 54 on Wednesday, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of arson causing great bodily injury and one count of arson of an inhabited structure in connection with the deadly and intentional Nov. 1, 2012, fire at a three-story illegal boarding home where he was staying at 1385 El Sereno Ave., according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Greg Risling.
“Evidence presented at trial showed that Robbins started the fire at about 2 a.m., when 17 others were asleep inside the house,” Risling said in a written statement. “He doused his room with gasoline and set it ablaze.”
The jury also found true the special allegations of multiple murders, as well as murder in the commission of the arson of an inhabited building, making him potentially eligible for the death penalty, he said. But the prosecution previously elected not to seek capital punishment in the case.
Robbins is expected to be sentenced to two life terms in prison, without the possibility of parole, when he returned to the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court for sentencing on June 7.
Pasadena Fire Department Battalion Chief and Deputy Fire Marshal Wendell Easton said the date of the fatal fire was “a tragic day in Pasadena history.”
The motive in the deadly arson was never fully explained. But there was no indication his roommates were specifically targeted.
Robbins stated during the trial process that he’d lit the fire because “he wanted his life to go away,” Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
Robbins has been in custody since the day after the fire, more than four years ago.
“After four days of dramatic testimony by victims, firefighters and police officers, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts,” Eaton said.
Prosecutors initially filed 15 additional counts of attempted murder against Robbins for the 15 other survivors of the arson attack, but those charges were dismissed by the court prior to trial, Risling said.
Killed in the fire were Cliff Juan Clark and Paul Richard Boyd, who succumbed to smoke inhalation, coroner’s officials said. Another resident of the boarding home, then-65-year-old Perry Simmons, suffered sever injuries in the fire, but survived.
The owner of the boarding home has since pleaded guilty to violating a 2007 city ordinance barring boarding homes and group homes of more than six residents in most parts of the city.
Jeannette Broussard was initially charged with 136 municipal code violations, but ultimately agreed to plead guilty to 23 violations. She was received three years of probation, $6,200 in fines and penalties and victim restitution.
Eaton commended the many police and fire investigators who handled the complex case.
“Thank you to everyone involved, from the day of the fire to the successful prosecution of this case,” he said. “This incident highlights the unique and successful relationship between the Pasadena Police Department and the Pasadena Fire Department in the investigation of arson related offenses.”

PHOTO: Garth Allen Robbins, 54, was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of arson on Friday, April 7, 2017, for a Nov. 1, 2012, arson fire at a Pasadena boarding home that left two men dead and another badly burned. Robbins is pictured during his preliminary hearing Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court.(SGVN/Staff File Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

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Man guilty in double-slaying of ex-girlfriend’s grandparents in Rosemead

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ROSEMEAD >> A jury convicted a man of fatally stabbing his then-14-year-old girlfriend’s grandparents more than 150 times in their Rosemead home six years ago.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for two days before convicting Rodolfo Lopez of two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 9, 2010, slayings of Jack Bezner, 71, and Susan Bezner, 64, at their home in the 4200 block of Arica Avenue, according to Los Angeles County District Attorneys’ officials.
His former girlfriend, 20-year-old Sophia Cristo, was convicted in March of 2015 of two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors said. Jurors also found true the special circumstances of lying in wait and multiple murders, along with the special allegation that she personally used a knife to stab her grandmother, who was wounded 112 times.
Both Jack and Susan Bezner were attacked as they slept in bed, officials said. Evidence indicated they fought for their lives, Deputy District Attorney Scott McPheron told jurors during Cristo’s trial.
Cristo lived with her grandparent prior the brutal slayings, officials said. It was alleged Cristo orchestrated the killings over a dispute with her grandparents.
“The prosecutor argued in his closing that Cristo had been involved in a check forgery scam,” district attorney’s office spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said.
“The grandparents found out. They threatened to put her in juvenile hall,” Ardalani said. Cristo then allegedly decided to kill them.
Cristo and Lopez are both expected to receive life prison terms, without the possibility of parole, when they return to court for sentencing on Jan. 24, Ardalani said.
Cristo was not eligible for the death penalty because she was a juvenile at the time of the crimes, though she was charged as an adult. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty against Lopez, who was 21 at the time of the double murder, Ardalani said.
Prosecutors argued that Lopez personally wielded the knife in Jack Bezner’s slaying, however jurors did not find that allegation to be true, Ardalani said.
Police apprehended Lopez and Cristo two days after the murders, according to El Paso Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jesse Tovar.
Authorities used a LoJack vehicle anti-theft system to track the suspects down as they drove through Horison City, Texas, in the Bezners’ SUV.

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Montebello man admits murder of wife in 2014

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MONTBELLO >> A Montebello man who beat and strangled his wife before stashing her body in the trunk of the family car and fleeing with the couple’s four children in late-2014 admitted charges of murder and child abuse Thursday, prosecutors said.
Daniel Diego Perez was charged with murder and other crimes for the slaying of 39-year-old Erica Perez, whose body was discovered on the afternoon of Dec. 10, 2014, in the trunk of the family’s 2010 Honda Accord, parked at 2nd Street and Harding Avenue, Montebello police Capt. Luis Lopez said at the time. The family of six was reported missing Dec. 9 after a relative reported they had not been seen since Dec. 5.
Police arrested Daniel Perez and recovered the four boys — then-ages 6, 8, 9 and 11 — following a pursuit that ended with a standoff near Santee.
During what was scheduled to be a pre-trial hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, “Daniel Diego Perez, 45, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of of his 39-year-old wife, Erica,” Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials said in written statement.
He also admitted two counts of child abuse for endangering his two younger sons during the pursuit and standoff leading up to his arrest. The search for the father and sons resulting in a statewide Amber Alert.
Judge Leslie Swain sentenced Perez to 15 years to life in prison for the murder, plus seven years and four months for the child abuse.
Daniel Perez previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, which originally included kidnapping as well.
An autopsy determined Erica Perez died from probably asphyxia and strangulation, according to Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner records. Investigators also noted multiple blunt force traumatic injuries as an additional significant cause of the death. The death was ruled a homicide.
When police were first seeking the missing couple, prior to the discovery of Erica Perez’s body, police relayed that family members had reported the couple’s marriage was “unstable” and there was a history of domestic violence.
The couple’s four children have since been placed in the care of family members.

PHOTOS; Erica Perez, left. Daniel Perez, right. (Courtesy)

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Man guilty of murder for drowning death of baby daughter in Pasadena

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PASADENA >> A jury convicted a man of murder and child abuse Wednesday for drowning his 1-year-old daughter five years ago in Pasadena, authorities said.
The jury deliberated for one day before finding Marquise Jackson, 26, of Lancaster guilty of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death in connection with the May 20, 2011, drowning of Mo’Nayjah Jackson according to Pasadena police and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials.
“According to the evidence presented at trial, Jackson drowned baby Mo’Nayjah Jackson at the apartment of the child’s mother, in the 100 block of West Del Mar Boulevard in Pasadena while the mother was at work,” district attorney’s office spokesman Ricardo Santiago said in a written statement.
Shortly after his arrest, Jackson admitted the killing, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said at the time. ”He (said he) wanted to be alleviated of his responsibilities of being a father,” she said.
Jackson later denied the charges and unsuccessfully argued he was mentally incompetent to stand trial for the crime.
Jackson faces 25 years to life in state prison when he returns to the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court on Aug. 12.

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Man convicted of murder for 2014 Monterey Park stabbing

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MONTEREY PARK >> A jury convicted a South San Gabriel man Friday of murder for the seemingly random fatal stabbing of another man in a Monterey Park parking lot in 2014, authorities said.
An Alhambra Superior Court jury found Angel Octavion Garcia, now-20, guilty of second-degree murder for the Oct. 14 slaying of Alhambra Parks and Recreation Department employee Edward Mendoza, 35, in a commercial parking lot in the 1700 block of Portrero Grande, near Arroyo Drive, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani.
Jurors also found true the special circumstance that Garcia personally used a knife in the murder, she said. The deliberations took about one day.
He faces 16 years to life in state prison when he returns to court for sentencing April 8.
Garcia and Mendoza were strangers when they encountered one another by chance in the parking lot about 9:10 p.m., according to prosecutors and Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials.
“It appears Mendoza was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ardalani said.
Garcia, who was 18 at the time, stabbed Mendoza, “after he was humiliated over a failed drug transaction involving another person from earlier in the night,” district attorney’s officials said in a written statement.
Though Mendoza had nothing to do with the prior incident, “The defendant took his anger out on Mendoza,” the statement said.
The men briefly argued before Garcia pulled a knife and stabbed Mendoza once in the upper torso, Lt. John Corina of the sheriff’s homicide bureau said shortly after the killer’s capture.
Mendoza managed to call 911 after being wounded, according to Deputy District Attorney Theodore Swanson, who prosecuted the case.
He managed only to tell the dispatcher he had been stabbed in the heart, and gave his location, before the line went silent.
Paramedics found Mendoza collapsed in the parking lot, officials said. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital about an hour later.
Garcia initially escaped capture.
“Soon after the incident, a person came forward to police and revealed Garcia had confessed to the stabbing a man,” according to the district attorney’s office statement.
Deputies found and arrested Garcia at his home on Oct. 22, eight days after the fatal attack. He denied the charges.
Mendoza had worked part-time as a recreation leader for Alhambra’s Parks and Recreation Department since 2001, city officials said. He had also begun refereeing kids’ football games at Almansor Park in Alhambra, coworkers said.
“It was a tragic case that resulted in the death of what appears to be a man who had a number of family and friends who loved him,” Swanson said.
Loved one’s have created a tribute video for Mendoza, which can be viewed online at www.eddiemendoza.org.

PHOTO: Edward Mendoza, 35, of Monterey Park was fatally stabbed late Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in a commercial parking lot in the 1700 block of South Portrero Grande Drive in Monterey Park. Angel Octavion Garcia, 20, of South San Gabriel, was convicted of the murder on Friday, March 18, 2016. (Courtesy)

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