Gang members sentenced to life in prison for Inglewood woman’s slaying
Both filed paperwork to appeal their convictions
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two gang members were sentenced today to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the August 2006 shooting death of an Inglewood woman.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis B. Rappe denied the defense’s motion for a new trial for Clifton Gregory Brown, 26, and Casey Lee Rowland, 32.
The two were convicted of first-degree murder for the Aug. 25, 2006, slaying of Ashley Cheval, who was shot once in the head as she sat in a vehicle in southwest Los Angeles. Brown and Rowland also were found guilty of three counts of attempted murder involving two rival gang members who were wounded while standing near the car and a woman who was in the car with Cheval but was unhurt.
Deputy District Attorney Allyson Ostrowski said the 23-year-old murder victim—who was not a gang member—was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“It just aches and it doesn’t go away,” Cheval’s mother, Marcia Holmes, said of the pain of losing her daughter, who herself had a daughter who is now 11.
She described her slain daughter as “the kind of person who loved everybody,” and said she believed justice had been served.
The young woman’s father, Ricky Bachemin, said, “I have a granddaughter that doesn’t have a mother at all ... You took somebody that is well-loved and I loved her.”
Brown and Rowland filed paperwork to appeal their convictions.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two reputed gang members pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge stemming from the Christmas Day shooting death of a civilian sheriff’s employee in Pasadena.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba denied bail for Larry Darnell Bishop Jr., 20, and Jerron Donald Harris, 25, both of whom are jailed in Victor McClinton’s slaying.
TORRANCE, Calif.—A man was sentenced today to a pair of life prison terms without the possibility of parole for the murders of two people inside an Inglewood insurance office more than five years ago.
Torrance Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen also tacked on another life term plus 74 years and four months for Julius Laulu, according to Deputy District Attorney Greta Walker.
A man charged with the 1981 stabbing death of a former Inglewood city councilman is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
Calvin Miller, 52, is due in Inglewood Superior Court on a murder charge stemming from the Feb. 22, 1981, slaying of William Alberty, who was found dead in the 500 block of West Regent Street in Inglewood.
Alberty’s body was discovered by a friend in the hallway of an apartment complex where he had been staying, according to Sandi Gibbons of the District Attorney’s Office.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—An Inglewood man was convicted today of the Easter Sunday 2009 slayings of two men on Skid Row, including an innocent bystander killed in a drug-related murder-for-hire plot.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Lamont Ward, 43, guilty of first-degree murder for the April 12, 2009, shooting deaths of Tommie Hayes, 33, and Kevin Cohen, 49, at a hotel at Stanford Avenue and East 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles.
The family and friends of Frederick Martin have put together a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever shot and killed the 28-year-old Inglewood father as he shielded his 8-year-old son from gunfire.
Martin, 28, was shot about 7 p.m. April 3 in the 3200 block of West 109th Street, and died at a local hospital.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts announced the reward at a City Hall news conference attended by Martin’s family.
