Girl, 13, Receives 27 Years to Life in Killing
A 13-year-old girl convicted of murdering a girl who switched gangs was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison Wednesday.
The girl, sentenced in Compton Juvenile Court, was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting of Patricia Tawana Thomas, 14, on June 2. Despite the heavy sentence, as a minor the 13-year-old can only be imprisoned until she is 25.
The slain girl was a friend of the killer when both belonged to the 118th Street East Coast Crips gang, said Dennis Fuhrman, a prosecutor assigned to the district attorney’s Hardcore Gang Unit.
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