Jury Convicts 2 For Murder of Highland Park 7-Eleven Clerk

HIGHLAND PARK, CA Two men were convicted today of the December 2013 shooting death of a convenience store clerk during an attempted robbery in Highland Park, along with a series of hold-ups at other convenience stores throughout the Los Angeles area.

The Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated about two days before finding Rasheen Childs and Bryant S. Moore, both 21, guilty of first-degree murder for the Dec. 22, 2013, attack on Gonzalo Garcia, who died later at a hospital.

Jurors found true the special circumstance allegation that Garcia was murdered during the commission of an attempted robbery, along with an allegation that Childs personally and intentionally discharged a handgun during the crime.

Childs and Moore -- who were also convicted of multiple counts of second- degree robbery for a series of other robberies -- are facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty against the two, who are due back before Judge Sam Ohta for sentencing May 12.

Garcia, 31, was shot to death after the two went into a 7-Eleven store in Highland Park where he was working, authorities said.

Childs approached the clerk, pointed a handgun at him, shot him once and fled from the store, authorities said.

Along with the clerk’s killing, jurors convicted the two of trying to rob him.

The seven-woman, five-man panel also found Childs guilty of 18 counts of second-degree robbery and one count of false imprisonment by violence. Those charges involved a series of robberies between Dec. 11, 2013, and Jan. 2, 2014 in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Gardena and Carson, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Song.

Moore was convicted of 10 counts of second-degree robbery and one count of false imprisonment by violence.

Moore’s attorney, Jeffrey Brodey, said outside court after the verdict, that it was a “very sad case.”

He noted that his client “was there,” but was not armed with a gun and was “not involved in the shooting.”

A third defendant, Eric Tyrone Carter, 24, was convicted Monday by a separate jury of seven counts of second-degree robbery for his involvement in some of the hold-ups. He is facing nearly 50 years in state prison, with a sentencing date scheduled to be set April 29.

City News Service