Man Convicted in Riot-Related Valley Murder : Courts: Traville Craig, 20, will get life in prison without possibility of parole for robbery victim’s death. He will be sentenced Oct. 25.

A North Hollywood man was convicted Monday of committing the only murder in the San Fernando Valley blamed on last year’s riots by smashing the head of a robbery victim with a board.

Traville Craig, 20, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Elias Garcia Rivera, who was attacked on April 29, 1992, hours after violence erupted throughout the city following the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the first Rodney G. King beating trial.

Defense attorney Dale K. Galipo bowed his head with distress as the guilty verdicts were read, but Craig maintained the easygoing manner he has displayed throughout the trial, smiling and casually sitting back and examining his fingernails.

“It was kind of like he expected it,” said one juror.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge John Fisher will sentence Craig on Oct. 25.

Jurors, who deliberated for just over two days, said Craig was trying to rob Garcia when he struck him in the head with a long piece of wood. This finding allowed the jury to convict Craig of murder, even though the panel concluded he did not intend to kill Garcia.

During closing arguments last week, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said Craig wound up and swung at Garcia’s skull like a major league baseball player hitting a home run. Hours after the attack, the 32-year-old Garcia underwent emergency surgery, but fell into a coma.

He died eight months later, making him the 53rd victim of the Los Angeles riots, and the only one in the Valley.

While the altercation preceding Garcia’s death was nothing like the mass violence that filled television screens for three days after the King verdicts, the coroner’s office determined it was a riot-related attack.

The incident started about 10:30 on the first night of civil unrest when Craig and several other African-American men approached a group of Latinos who were drinking beer outside their North Hollywood apartment building.

At least one of the residents, according to the testimony, told the black men that they supported Rodney King and believed the officers should have been convicted.

Craig, testifying on his own behalf, admitted he asked Garcia and several other Latinos for a donation to a fund he claimed would be used to finance a retrial for the four white police officers who beat King.

“It was a chance for him to get some quick bucks,” one juror said.

One man, Victor Medina, handed over two dollars, but Craig demanded more, according to the testimony in the two-week trial. Two witnesses said Craig reached for Medina’s wallet before he chased Medina into an apartment complex on Vanowen Avenue near Coldwater Canyon Boulevard.

Medina and a teen-ager who lived in the complex said Craig chased Medina around the building before cornering him on a second-floor landing. They testified Craig armed himself with a 2 1/2-foot board and demanded Medina’s wallet.

When Medina refused, Craig swung the board, hitting Medina in the forehead. The jury also convicted Craig of assault with a deadly weapon for this attack on Medina, which caused an injury that required nearly 20 stitches to close.

As Medina crumpled to the ground, Garcia ran up the stairway, apparently attempting to assist his friend. As he reached the top stair, Craig swung the board again, cracking Garcia’s skull.

Prosecutors portrayed Craig as an opportunist exploiting tensions on that first night of the riots, but Craig said that he was acting in self-defense. Craig testified Medina and another man hit him in the face outside the apartment building and Medina later attempted to smash him with a deck chair.

Although the details of his story have changed since his initial interview with police the day after the incident, Craig maintains the Latinos were the aggressors.

Craig admitted hitting Medina with a board, but said he dropped the weapon when a bloodied Medina fell to the ground. Craig has steadfastly maintained that he hit Garcia with his fist and that Garcia’s skull fracture was caused when he hit his head on a concrete step.

Craig admitted chasing Medina into the apartment building, but said he only wanted to ask why Medina attacked him.

Although defense attorney Galipo argued to the jury that Craig was the most credible witness in the entire trial, jurors agreed that Craig was not telling the truth.

“It was bogus,” said a female juror from Sylmar. “It just didn’t make any sense.”