LAKE FOREST : Two Convicted in Shooting at School

Two 18-year-olds were convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy Monday and face possible life imprisonment for their roles in a shooting at El Toro High School last year.

While many high school students were brushing up on their studies or socializing, 17-year-olds Lee Yu of Hacienda Heights and William Taboy of Lake Forest were conspiring to kill Philip Lott, 17, also of Lake Forest, prosecutors said.

The Nov. 4, 1992, shooting followed a shoving match between Lott and Taboy a few days earlier, officials said. Taboy planned the attack and Yu, the gunman, fired 10 shots at Lott, striking him four times, prosecutors said.

An Orange County Superior Court jury convicted both men of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Yu was also convicted of shooting from a vehicle.

The shooting of her son prompted Lott’s mother, Karen, to launch the Green Ribbon campaign, a grass-roots effort to fight gangs and juvenile violence.

The Lotts have also filed a $5-million civil suit against the defendants and the Saddleback Valley School District, alleging school officials knew of the impending attack but did nothing to stop it. School officials deny the charge.

Defense attorneys for the young men could not be reached for comment late Monday but had argued during the trial that the shooting was a senseless show of bravado--not a plot to kill someone.

Two juveniles charged with assault in connection with the incident have been sentenced to the California Youth Authority, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Marion.

CYA authorities will made a recommendation on a sentence for Yu and Taboy, but Marion noted that because they were tried as adults, each faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

“Conspiracy to commit murder carries the same penalty as murder. The legislature obviously sees this as a very serious crime,” Marion said.

The men will probably be sentenced in February after pre-sentence evaluations, he said.