LAPPL NEWS WATCH FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021

DA Drops Bid For Death Penalty In Accused Cop Killer’s Case

Prosecutors announced Thursday that they will not seek the death penalty for a man who is awaiting a retrial for the June 1983 killing of a Los Angeles police officer in Lake View Terrace, with a judge subsequently rejecting a bid by the District Attorney’s Office to dismiss allegations that could carry a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. 

 

Superior Court Judge Hayden Zacky ruled that it was “not in the interest of justice” to dismiss the special circumstance allegations of murder of a peace officer in the performance of his duties and murder to avoid or prevent a lawful arrest, along with gun allegations, against Kenneth Earl Gay, now 63, in connection with the June 2, 1983, slaying of Officer Paul Verna. 

 

Verna’s widow and two sons spoke out in the San Fernando courtroom against the bid by the District Attorney’s Office. Saying that “justice has escaped our family,” the victim’s son, Ryan, told the judge it’s been nearly 38 years since his father was killed during a traffic stop and that he refuses to “sit idly by” amid a series of directives issued by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon after he was sworn into office last month.

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Widow Of Slain LASD Sgt. Steve Owen Wants Killer To Face Death Penalty

 

It’s been more than four years since Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Steve Owen was shot execution-style while responding to a burglary call at a Lancaster apartment building. 

 

His widow, Tania Owen, said she wants her husband’s killer to face the death penalty, believing that the shooter’s actions were calculated. “When my husband made contact with him, he shot him, completely disabling him,” she said. “And he walked up to him, stood over him and shot him three more times in the face, and then shot him on his badge.” 

 

Trenton Lovell, a parolee at the time, has been accused in the fatal shooting. Owen said she was furious that, if convicted, Lovell likely would not receive the strictest punishment possible — the death penalty — after newly-elected District Attorney George Gascón banned the punishment. 

 

On the first day of his term, Gascón, who won over voters in November with his promise of sweeping reforms, issued a number of directives — one of which removed the death penalty as a punishment and another that stopped the practice of seeking special enhancements for especially violent cases, which can add years to prison sentences. 

 

Matt Murphy, an attorney representing the Owen family, said if Lovell was charged with second-degree murder and Gascón’s office gets its way, it would be a travesty of justice. “This person could literally spend less than six years in California state prison for the cold-blooded, execution-style murder of a police officer engaged in the performance of his duties,” he said. “It is outrageous.”

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Under New DA, Alleged Child Decapitator, Deputy Ambusher Would Be Eligible For Parole In 20 Years

 

Under reforms from new Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, the suspects in two cases involving the decapitation of two kids, and the shooting ambush of two deputies, will both be eligible for parole after serving 20 years in prison, if convicted. 

 

In December 2020, 34-year-old Maurice Taylor was charged with the murder and decapitation of two of his children, ages 13 and 12, inside the family's Lancaster home. "This was by far the most horrific crime scene I have ever seen," said Detective Steve Blagg. Blagg is a veteran homicide investigator with the LA County Sheriff’s Department and is handling the heinous case. 

 

"He admitted to myself and my partner what he did," Blagg said. "He actually used an ax to take their heads off their body, and that is something that took some doing, and was very brutal. He believed both children were demons." 

 

But Blagg tells FOX 11, George Gascón’s reforms are having a drastic impact on the case. "When we filed the case, it was the day after Mr. Gascón took office," Blagg said. "This case, due to multiple murders, there would have been special circumstances attached which would have made the defendant eligible for the death penalty, or life in prison without parole." 

 

Gascón has banned his office from filing special circumstances, and none were filed in the case. 

 

Detective Blagg is also handling the case of the September 2020 ambush shooting of two LA County Sheriff’s deputies in Compton, both of whom were shot in the face by a gunman while sitting in their patrol. 

 

"It was just a straight ambush, and he tried to kill both of those deputies," Blagg said. "He flat-out shot the victim in broad daylight with an assault rifle and then stole his car," Blagg said. 

 

Under Gascon’s new reforms, his office will seek to drop all gun enhancements with great bodily injury for both shootings, which would potentially shave decades of prison time off Murray’s sentence, if he’s convicted.