Death Urged in Officer Slaying
Jurors today recommended the death penalty for the second of two state prison parolees convicted of shooting to death Los Angeles Police motorcycle officer Paul Verna during a routine traffic stop in 1983.
Jurors in the penalty phase of the murder trial of Raynard Cummings, 27, of Pacoima deliberated for just a few hours last Thursday and today before deciding to reject the only other punishment he faced--life in prison without parole. A separate jury earlier this month also recommended the death penalty for Cummings’ co-defendant, Kenneth Gay, also 27 and from Pacoima, in the shooting death of Verna, 35.
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