Man Guilty of Slaying Garden Grove Mother

A Los Angeles man was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday in the shooting of a Garden Grove mother who was picking up her teen-age son when she stumbled onto a robbery.

Nokkuwa Kenya Ervin, 22, poured himself a cup of water and showed no reaction as the Orange County Superior Court jury pronounced him guilty in the October, 1991, slaying of Kathy C. Lee, 47, a secretary, artist and mother of two sons.

Lee routinely picked up one of her sons after his work shift ended at a Fountain Valley computer store because she worried about his safety. Lee was shot once in the head, apparently after unwittingly surprising Ervin and three co-defendants who still face trial, prosecutors said.

“This case was about every parent’s worse nightmare,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Randolph J. Pawloski said outside the court. “Because of fear of crime, a parent picks up a son or daughter and then becomes a victim. I think the jury did the right thing.”

Ervin was also convicted on allegations that the murder took place during a burglary and robbery, special circumstances that make him eligible for life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Jan. 14. The jury also convicted Ervin of burglary and robbery but acquitted him of two other robbery charges.

Prosecutors contended that Ervin shot Lee, a belief bolstered by Ervin’s confession to police, Pawloski said. But the jury did not determine that Ervin was the shooter.

“There was reasonable doubt whether he did it,” said jury forewoman Janet DeBeixedon of Laguna Hills. “There was just not enough evidence to prove it, even if we thought he did it.”

Ervin testified in court that he was not the shooter. He also testified that he was coerced into participating in the robbery and making the earlier confession by gang members who threatened his life and his family.

Jurors said outside court that they believe Ervin was coerced, but did not believe that the pressure amounted to a viable defense.

Lee’s son, Peter Lee Jr., was 18 at the time of the shooting and worked at the Comp USA computer store in Fountain Valley. Prosecutors said Ervin pointed a weapon at the teen-ager and several co-workers and handcuffed them in a bathroom after taking keys to the store.

A police officer who heard the shot fired at Lee captured Ervin at the scene.

Defense attorney Brian Ducker said he was pleased that jurors questioned whether his client was the gunman, but noted that he cannot feel victorious since Ervin faces life in prison.

Ducker said he will fight the special circumstance allegations because he said such findings require evidence of a defendant’s intent to kill. Many of the jurors said outside court that they did not believe there was evidence to prove Ervin intended to kill Lee.