Local News in Brief : 2 More Men to Stand Trial in Officer’s Death
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The fifth and sixth men accused of the ambush killing of a North Hollywood police detective last Halloween were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and conspiracy charges.
Los Angeles Municipal Judge David M. Horwitz also ordered the men, David Bentley, 32, of Altadena and Reecy Cooper, 31, of Los Angeles, to stand trial on special circumstances allegations that will allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
Bentley and Cooper were arrested in March and charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the slaying of Los Angeles Police Detective Thomas C. Williams, who was shot as he picked up his 6-year-old son at a Canoga Park day-care center. The child was not injured.
Bentley allegedly helped recruit a man to drive a car during the killing, and Cooper allegedly participated in a dry run two days before the shooting in which several of the men looked over the area of the day-care center.
Williams, 42, was killed just hours after he testified in the robbery trial of Daniel S. Jenkins, 30, one of four other men charged in the killing. Prosecutors contend that Williams was killed in retaliation for his testimony.
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