By City News Service
Two men convicted of the January 2008 fatal shootings of two teenagers at a crowded birthday party in Long Beach were sentenced again today to lengthy state prison terms.
A three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal had sent the case back to Long Beach Superior Court for re-sentencing after reversing Izac McCloud's conviction on 38 of 46 counts of assault with a firearm, and Jonzel Stringer's conviction on 46 counts of attempted murder involving others who were at the Jan. 19, 2008, party at the Masonic hall. The location is in the 5900 block of Parkcrest Street.
The justices upheld the convictions of the two for second-degree murder in the slayings of 15-year-old Breon Taylor of Los Angeles and 17-year-old Dennis Moses of Long Beach but ordered McCloud and Stringer to be re-sentenced.
Long Beach Superior Court Judge Mark C. Kim ordered McCloud -- who had been sentenced in October 2010 to 202 years to life in state prison -- to serve a minimum of 111 years to life in prison. Stringer -- who had initially been sentenced to 198 years to life -- was sentenced to a minimum of 36 years to life in prison at the new sentencing hearing.
``I think they deserve at least that much time,'' Deputy District Attorney Karen Thorp said outside court. ``They actually deserve a lot more time than they got based on the lives they took and the lives they endangered. But I think justice has been served.''
In its December 2012 ruling, the state appellate court panel agreed with Stringer's contention that a judge prejudicially erred by instructing jurors on the ``kill zone'' theory of liability for attempted murder.
``In a kill zone case, the defendant does not merely subject everyone in the kill zone to lethal risk. Rather, the defendant specifically intends that everyone in the kill zone die,'' Associate Justice Frances Rothschild wrote on behalf of the panel. The justices also found that there was sufficient evidence to support only eight of the 46 assault with a firearm convictions against McCloud, noting that 10 shots were fired but that two of them killed the murder victims, both of whom were shot in the head.
A 17-year-old boy survived being shot in the leg. Stringer -- who was 19 at the time of the crime -- and McCloud -- 16 at the time -- were indicted in August 2008 for the killings, which occurred at a party that had drawn more than 400 youths.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.