Temecula Murderer Convicted: CVS Attacker Found Guilty

TEMECULA, CA — A man who bashed a 54-year-old woman in the head with a liquor bottle in an unprovoked attack while she was standing in line at a Temecula store was convicted Monday of first-degree murder.

A Murrieta jury deliberated just under two hours before finding 32- year-old Brian Eldon Saylor of Temecula guilty in the death of Tammy Serrano.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Stephen Gallon is expected to sentence Saylor to 25 years to life in state prison on March 16.

The weeklong trial was the second for the defendant, who acted as his own attorney. In his first trial last September, jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting him of murder, leading to a mistrial and an immediate decision by the District Attorney's Office to retry the case.

Serrano and her adult daughter had stopped at the CVS/Pharmacy at 31771 Rancho California Road on June 13, 2016, to purchase some cosmetics and were at the register, checking out, when Saylor stepped up to the register adjacent to them. The defendant appeared to be searching for money in his wallet to buy a 750 mL bottle of Jim Beam whiskey when he abruptly picked up the bottle and slammed it into the back of Serrano's head, prosecutors said.

As the victim collapsed to the floor unconscious, Saylor walked out of the store, lit a cigarette and waited for deputies to arrive and arrest him.

Serrano died the next day at Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar.

According to witnesses and investigators, Serrano had never met the defendant, and the two did not interact while in the CVS. A motive remains unclear. Part of the attack was captured by store security surveillance video cameras.

An employee from a neighboring outlet told reporters that the defendant was often seen walking in the area and appeared intoxicated but did not seem violent.

Saylor, who's being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, had no documented prior felony convictions.

— By City News Service / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department