[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

February 18




CALIFORNIA:

DA: Gang Member Charged With Triple Murder At Torrance Bowling Alley



A 47-year-old man has been charged with killing 3 men at a bowling alley in 
Torrance last month.

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John Chang said Reginald Leander Wallace, 
of Los Angeles, is charged with opening fire at Gable House Bowl, located in 
the 22000 block of Hawthorne Blvd., on Jan. 4.

Victims Michael Radford, 20, Astin Edwards, 28, and Robert Meekins, 28, were 
killed.

Reginald Leander Wallace, of Los Angeles, is charged with opening fire at Gable 
House Bowl, located in the 22000 block of Hawthorne Blvd., on Jan. 4.

Wallace faces 3 counts of murder, 4 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of 
possession of a firearm by a felon.

The charges announced by the D.A.’s office Friday include special circumstance 
allegations of multiple murders and killing to further the activities of a 
criminal street gang as well as allegations of using a handgun which caused 
great bodily injury and death.

The criminal complaint alleges Wallace was convicted as a juvenile in 1989 of 
1st-degree murder and that he was convicted as an adult of bringing or 
possessing a gun within a school zone in 1997 and assault with a firearm in 
1998.

Wallace’s arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

He is being held without bail. If convicted as charged, Wallace faces death or 
life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on whether to seek 
the death penalty will be made a later date.

The case remains under investigation by the Torrance Police Department.

(source: CBS news)

****************

Brothers charged with killing missing teen could face death penalty



2 brothers could be facing the death penalty after being charged in connection 
with the murder of a 16-year-old girl who has been missing in Southern 
California since last month.

Owen Shover, 18, and his brother, Gary Shover, 21, were returned to custody 
last Friday after being formally refused bail.

Authorities allege the brothers killed Aranda Briones after she was last seen 
alive on January 13.

Prosecutors have filed a special circumstance allegation of “lying in wait” 
against both defendants - the act of hiding and waiting for an individual with 
the intent to kill that person - making them eligible for the death penalty if 
convicted.

The sheriff’s office said the brothers became early suspects in the 
investigation after the victim’s family painted them as potential people of 
interest to law enforcement.

The victim and Owen Shover were high school friends who had recently 
reconnected.

Owen was the last person to be seen with Briones.

He told sheriffs he had not seen Briones since he dropped her at a park where 
he saw her get into another vehicle the day she disappeared.

However, a police review of surveillance in the area didn’t corroborate 
Shover’s story.

“We destroyed the timeline of events that he gave us and replaced it with what 
we knew to be true based on video surveillance footage,” he told ABC News.

Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Vasquez said the homicide squad and 
FBI joined the investigation on January 20.

Gary and Owen Shover were arrested after a raid of their home on February 11.

The sheriff’s office said it had collected evidence indicating Briones was 
killed, but did not give specifics of what had been located.

Investigations continue with the sheriff’s office calling for the public’s help 
in locating her remains.

“We still don’t have a body,” said Vasquez. “We still don’t know where she is.”

The brothers will appear before the courts on March 1.

(source: 9news.com.au)