Pacoima Gang Member Convicted in Slaying of Man During Robbery

A Pacoima gang member was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder and faces a life prison term for gunning down a Van Nuys man who tried to help his girlfriend after she was pushed down during a purse snatching.

After deliberating less than two days, a Superior Court jury also found that Lamarr Deon Cooks, 18, shot Fernando Hernandez during a robbery Oct. 27, 1991. His conviction on this special circumstance allegation means that Judge Darlene Schempp will sentence Cooks on May 12 to life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

“It was a really vicious crime,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels. “He deserved to be convicted, and he deserves to be put away for the rest of his life, which is what’s going to happen.”

Hernandez, 19, was walking with Lillian Martinez in the 15400 block of Vanowen Street when Cooks and his cousin, Daryl Ray Richard, approached the couple. Authorities said Richard grabbed Martinez’s purse and pushed her to the ground as he made off with the bag.

As Martinez fell, Hernandez attempted to catch her, but Cooks fired one shot from a .357 magnum revolver, hitting Hernandez in the mouth.

Three days after the crime, police arrested two other men who had what later proved to be the murder weapon.

Although Martinez identified one of these two men as an assailant, both told police that they had borrowed the gun from Cooks, who had warned them to be careful because the gun had been involved in a murder, authorities said.

Police received their break in the case when Probation Department officials recovered a letter that Richard had sent to his girlfriend. Jurors saw the note--accompanied by a newspaper story about the Hernandez slaying--which identified Cooks as the triggerman.

Cooks has continued to deny his guilt, but Richard broke down during a police interview and implicated himself and his cousin, authorities said.

Richard, 17, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder. A juvenile court judge sentenced him to 15 years to life. He is in the custody of the California Youth Authority, which can incarcerate him until he is 25.

Prosecutors called Richard to the witness stand during the two-week trial, but he told the jury he could not remember what happened the night of the shooting. Samuels, who called Richard “uncooperative,” instead read to the jury incriminating testimony made at a previous court appearance.

Several other key witnesses did not testify according to prosecutors’ plans. Authorities could not locate Martinez to testify in person. And Melvin Gaston, one of the two men arrested with the murder weapon, failed to show up at court and had to be arrested to ensure his appearance.

Both Cooks and his girlfriend at the time testified that he was visiting her in Compton when Hernandez was shot, but jury members said after the verdict that they did not believe either witness.