no evidence to connect the killing of Crystal Taylor to Skyler Moore," Everett said. Moore's defense attorney, Richard Everett, told the jury there was "little or no evidence'' that Moore knew Smyer. "He was looking to build a reputation for himself'' and offered to kill Taylor in exchange for Smyer's loyalty, Zavala said during opening statements. Moore was a member of the East Coast branch of a Southern California gang and new to the area, according to Zavala. Prosecutors said Smyer and Moore met at the basketball courts at Anderson Park in Redondo Beach. An earlier jury deadlocked in August, leading to a mistrial.įollowing the reading of the verdict Monday, Deputy District Attorney Rosa Zavala said it had been a "long-fought battle" but "Crystal has never been forgotten." 25, 2001, killings of Taylor and her unborn son. Smyer was arrested and charged with murder a decade after the Sept.
"The premeditation went toward killing that baby.''
"The intent was to kill the baby," Meyers said. "I'm disappointed that the jurors didn't find that there was reasonable doubt.''ĭeputy District Attorney Danette Meyers told City News Service she understood the jury's decision to find Smyer guilty of second-degree murder in the case of the mother and first-degree as to her baby-to-be. "I think it's clear that somebody else committed the crime,'' Schneider said. Smyer's defense attorney, Calvin Schneider III, said he planned to file an appeal based on the court's exclusion of evidence he said pointed to another perpetrator.Īll-Time NFL Great Running Back, Social Activist Jim Brown Dead at 87 Moore - who is already serving a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole for an unrelated 2001 killing - faces a possible death sentence. The verdict in the trial of the alleged gunman, Skyler Jefferson Moore, 35, is expected to be read Monday afternoon. Moore, who did not move as the verdicts were read, is set to be sentenced June 1 and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jurors also found true an allegation of financial gain as to the fetus' murder, but not true for Taylor's killing, and a special allegation of multiple murders. The six-man, six-woman jury found Smyer guilty of second-degree murder for Taylor's killing first-degree murder of the fetus, named in the complaint as Jeremiah Johnson Taylor two counts of solicitation of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime. Prosecutors said Derek Paul Smyer arranged for 27-year-old Crystal Taylor to be killed because she refused to have an abortion. A 36-year-old man was convicted today of two counts of murder and other charges for the 2001 contract killings of his girlfriend and her unborn son outside the woman's Hawthorne apartment.
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