Man in Peco Case Gets 12-Year Term

A Watts man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison for firing a gunshot into a group at the Imperial Courts housing project during a confrontation between Los Angeles police and an unruly crowd that left one man dead.

Marlon I. Kirkwood, 21, pleaded guilty last month to firing one shot from a .38-caliber revolver during a gun battle between Henry Peco and police after officers were called to the Watts housing project during a power outage. Kirkwood was sentenced to nine years for attempted murder and an additional three years for using a firearm.

Kirkwood said in court that he saw Peco fire an assault rifle at police moments before officers returned fire and killed him.

Peco’s family members and some tenants discounted police accounts and said officers shot at Peco without provocation.

Another man, Kevin M. Jenkins, faces sentencing next week for being an accessory to the Peco shooting. Jenkins has admitted that he hid the AK-47 assault rifle that Peco allegedly fired at six officers who had responded to a report of gunfire at the project Nov. 29. Jenkins also said in court that he saw Peco fire at police.

The guilty pleas by both men corroborate accounts of the shooting by officers who said they fired on Peco in self defense. A police investigation to determine whether officers rightfully followed use-of-force procedures has not been completed.

“The police were justified in the shooting and we ended up with an equitable and just result. I am very satisfied,” said Manuel R. Martinez Jr., the public defender representing Kirkwood. “Peco had a gun and shot it. There is no question in anyone’s mind who knows this case as well as I do.”

According to previous court statements by Jenkins, Peco’s last words were “take the gun,” Martinez said.

The Peco shooting touched off an intense campaign by his relatives and some tenants who contend that Peco was unarmed and was shot without provocation as he walked across the project.

Police have never found the assault rifle, fueling skepticism about the shooting among some tenants. Members of the Henry Peco Justice Committee have held several rallies protesting what they describe as ongoing harassment and disrespectful treatment from police at Imperial Courts.

Tensions became so strained after the shooting that officers were ordered to patrol the project in groups of four. A federal mediator was dispatched to work with tenants and police. The FBI, responding to a citizen complaint, is investigating the Peco shooting to determine whether officers violated Peco’s civil rights.

Although Kirkwood has never been convicted of a crime as an adult, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cecil J. Millis said that he showed a “pattern of violent conduct” as a juvenile. Kirkwood will be eligible for parole in six years.

Kirkwood’s father and several leaders of the justice committee attended the sentencing. Kirkwood glanced at the group but did not acknowledge his father.

Robert Kirkwood, 41, said he believes his son was talked into accepting a “bad deal” from his attorney.

“The last time we talked he told me he didn’t do anything,” Robert Kirkwood said. “Next thing I hear he entered a guilty plea. Today, he wouldn’t even look at me. I can tell something is wrong.”

Kirkwood had been charged with six counts of attempted murder and six counts of assault with a deadly weapon as well as murder in connection with Peco’s death--charges that could have led to life in prison.

Martinez called the tensions at the project an unfortunate situation and said he hoped that the statements made in court by Kirkwood and Jenkins can “clear things up so that a healing process can begin.”