Father and Son Get 10 Years in Deadly Jewelry Store Robbery

A father and son involved in a botched jewelry store heist in San Juan Capistrano that led to the deaths of two other suspects were sentenced to 10 years in prison today.

Eddie Allen Clark Sr., 54, pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter, assault with a semi-automatic weapon and three counts of attempted robbery. He testified for prosecutors in a trial of two defendants sentenced last month to life terms.

Eddie Allen Clark Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to the same charges today, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons. Clark Jr. did not testify during the trial of co-defendants Alan Keith Hunter and James Stephan Paschall.

None of the defendants was accused of firing the fatal shots, but they were all still charged initially with murder under the “provocative act” theory that their actions caused two co-conspirators to be fatally shot.

Co-defendant George Anthony Boozer, 40, also accepted a plea deal and is awaiting sentencing. Boozer also testified against Hunter and Paschall.

Hunter and Paschall were convicted April 9 of first-degree murder. The store owner fired the fatal shots.

Hunter and Paschall drove getaway vehicles on the day of the robbery, with Paschal behind the wheel of a stolen car that was dumped. Hunter acted as a lookout and picked up his cohorts in a rental car after the first getaway vehicle was abandoned, according to Simmons.

Hunter, 43, of Moreno Valley, and Paschall, 45, of Gardena, continued to insist they were innocent of murder, but they apologized to their families for getting into the legal predicament.

Robert Earl Avery and Desmond Brown, both 39-year-old Los Angeles residents, were killed on June 24, 2011, at Monaco Jewelers, 33955 Doheny Park Road.

Clark Jr. ran for the door after his two cohorts were gunned down, Simmons said.

Boozer, who pleaded guilty on May 22, 2013, to assault with a semiautomatic firearm and five counts of attempted second-degree robbery, is expected to be sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison, Simmons said.

City News Service