Boyfriend Guilty of Killing Nurse Offering Help

A South-Central Los Angeles man was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday for shooting his girlfriend to death after she came to his aid while he lay in the middle of a street near Studio City.

Giles Aubery, 54, could be sentenced to 27 years to life in prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Edwin F. Greene, who prosecuted the case in San Fernando Superior Court.

Aubery’s sentencing is scheduled for May 9.

Supervising Judge John H. Major issued the verdict after a non-jury trial that lasted less than three hours. The only witness to take the stand was Aubery, who testified that he was in a West Los Angeles hospital with a back problem when the shooting occurred about 6:30 a.m. last Feb. 22.

But Greene argued that Aubery, apparently in a fit of jealousy, shot Lucille Marie Warren, 40, of Inglewood, four times with a .38-caliber pistol after she got out of her car to help him.

Aubery was lying in the 7400 block of Woodrow Wilson Drive near Mulholland Drive, pretending to be sick, Greene said.

The shooting shocked the community because Warren, a nurse, tried to be a good Samaritan by coming to the aid of Aubery, whom she apparently did not recognize at first.

“As she got closer to him, he started to stand up and pointed the gun at her,” Greene said. “She saw the gun, started to run away from him and she was shot.”

Police arrested Aubery two days later at his apartment after a car seen by a witness was traced to him.

Warren had just left a house where she had spent the night working as an in-house nurse when she was shot, Greene said.

During Wednesday’s trial, Judge Major denied a “special circumstance” allegation that Aubery was lying in wait before shooting Warren.

The judge said the man was in the open and did not fit the typical description of someone lying in wait in a concealed place.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty because, among other reasons, Aubery did not have a prior criminal history, Greene said.

If convicted of the special circumstance allegation, Aubery could have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, Greene said.