Man Who Shot at Officers in Riots Pleads Guilty, Gets 19-Year Term

A man accused of trying to kill three police officers during the Los Angeles riots, including a brother of baseball star Darryl Strawberry, has pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Trynon Lee Jefferson, 23, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Jury selection had begun Wednesday in preparation for Jefferson’s trial when he entered his plea to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and two counts of robbery that stemmed from an incident a day earlier.

Jefferson had been charged with three counts of attempted murder against 77th Division Officers Michael Strawberry, Charles Cho and Mark Ramirez, who were traveling in a scout car on Manchester Avenue on April 30, the second day of the riots, when they were fired upon.

Jefferson could have faced life in prison had he been convicted of attempted murder.

Prosecutors alleged that Jefferson pointed a gun at firefighters battling a blaze at Vernon and Vermont avenues and stole equipment from them. He had been charged with two counts of assault on the firefighters in addition to the robbery counts, but the assault charges involving the firefighters were dropped.