Shot During Robbery : Retired Marine Is Slain by Bar Pickup

A 52-year-old retired Marine sergeant major was shot dead Wednesday by one of two women he and a friend had picked up in front of a Southeast San Diego bar.

Slain was John Sherman Green, who was employed by the Model Ex-Offenders work-furlough program. The slaying took place in Green’s home in the 100 block of Latimer Street.

Green and his friend reportedly picked up the two women as they were leaving Cynd’s Cocktail Lounge on 54th Street, according to homicide investigator Sgt. Ted Armijo. The four went to Green’s home in a car driven by his friend, whom police refused to identify.

“Once inside, one of the women pulled out a handgun and told the men to empty their pockets,” Armijo said. “They complied but she opened fire anyway.”

One of the shots hit Green in the head, Armijo said.

Green’s friend tried to wrestle the gun from the woman who had fired the shots but gave up the effort when the second woman entered the fray. “At that time, the man decided it was a good time for him to escape,” Armijo said.

Green’s friend suffered a dislocated shoulder in the scuffle but managed to get out the back door and alert a neighbor who called police.

When police arrived at 11:42 p.m., they found Green dead on the living-room floor. The two women had fled, using the car that had brought them to the house. Police said they did not know how much money the women had taken.

One of the women was described as black, about 22, 5-foot-4 and weighed 115 to 120 pounds. The other was described as black, 18 to 22 years old, 5-foot-4, weighed 150 pounds, had black hair with a blonde streak, and wore a midriff-length blouse with jeans.

The stolen car was a sky blue 1984 Lincoln Continental.

Green became a correctional assistant for Model Ex-Offenders Inc., a 40-bed work-furlough center, three years ago. According to Glen Cornist, the facility’s executive director, Green was to have returned to work Thursday after three days off.