COMPTON – Three men face life-without-parole sentences in May after a Superior Court jury convicted them of murder and other charges in a 2010 armed robbery at a Compton auto sales firm, the District Attorney’s office announced today.
Deputy District Attorney Marilyn Seymour, who prosecuted the case, said the Compton jury was out three hours before convicting the trio of two counts of murder and finding true the special circumstance of murder during a robbery. The verdicts were returned yesterday afternoon.
The defendants also were convicted of one count each of attempted murder and assault with a firearm, and five counts of second-degree robbery. Defendants Devin Lamont Lewis, 44, and Paul Jordan, 43, each were convicted of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Defendant Anthony Delmar McLaurin, 34, did not face that charge.
Sentencing was scheduled for May 9 by Compton Superior Count Judge Arthur M. Lew, who presided over the trial.
The men were convicted of taking part in an armed robbery on April 5, 2010, at Custom Auto Sales in Compton. Two victims – Vance Dean and Lejon Robins — were killed. A third victim was shot, but survived.
Four other victims were robbed before the armed bandits fled. Sheriff’s deputies arrested seven men, most shortly after the shooting.
Three other defendants were convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. One man was acquitted.
The District Attorney’s office opted not to seek the death penalty against the defendants, who have remained in custody since their arrests in 2010.
