A jury deliberated for over two weeks before returning with a guilty verdict on two men charged with fatally shooting a Brotherhood Crusade Sports Founder Victor McClinton with an errant bullet intended for a rival gang member on Christmas Morning of 2012.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Larry Darnell Bishop, and Jerron Donald Harris, guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Victor McClinton.
This was the second trial for the two men. The original trial which occurred last year was declared a mistrial.
The two were convicted of not only murder in the first-degree but were also found guilty with special circumstances, ruling that the crime was gang related and that the shots were part of a drive by shooting. Harris was found guilty of actually being the shooter, but did find Bishop guilty of also firing a gun.
The two men were also found guilty of one count of attempted murder. Though the special circumstances in the murder made Bishop and Harris potentially eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors did not seek capital punishment convictions for these crimes. They are expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, sentencing is scheduled for July 15, 2016.
McClinton, a married father of two worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and founded the Brotherhood Community Youth Sports League in Pasadena. Thousands of family members attended a candle light vigil as well as his funeral in January of 2013 including then Sheriff Lee Baca who McClinton worked for. McClinton was walking a friend on Christmas morning to his car when the shooting occurred.
“This is not a day to celebrate this is a tragedy on all counts. Three families have been devastated by this senseless crime. The McClinton’s Family without a doubt has been devastated, but the Harris and the Bishop’s families have been destroyed as well. I am just glad that this trial has come to an end so that Shelly and her boys can move forward as best they can and turn the page on this horrific event. Victor built the Brotherhood Sports League and dedicated his life to providing young people with an alternative to this kind of lifestyle and it is terrible that his life was taken at such an early age from the very lifestyle he was trying to give young people an alternative too.”. Said Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. Chairman of Brotherhood Crusade and Executive Publisher of The Los Angeles Sentinel.
McClinton was gunned down the morning of December 25, 2012 when Harris and Bishop spotted and opened fire on, a rival gang member. McClinton was struck by a stray bullet and succumbed to his wounds at Huntington Memorial Hospital later in the day.
