Killer of Armored Car Guard Gets Life in Prison

A parolee convicted of murdering an armored car guard during a robbery of a Home Depot hardware store was sentenced Monday to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen imposed the sentence that had been recommended by a jury for Sean Darnell Slade, 27. The jury, which deliberated for three days, could have recommended that Slade be executed for the fatal shooting of guard Edwin (Eddie) Maldonado during a July 29, 1992, robbery at the San Fernando store.

Slade, his hands handcuffed behind him, showed no emotion during the brief proceedings.

Outside the courtroom, Slade’s attorney, Bruce Hill, said Slade’s testimony during the penalty phase of the trial may have swayed some jurors to vote against the death penalty.

“Some jurors did tell me that his testimony did have an impact on them different than when he testified during the guilt phase,” Hill said. Slade testified during the penalty phase that he was innocent and therefore felt no remorse.

In addition to the life sentence, Coen added 14 more years for the use of a gun in the murder and for Slade having a prior felony conviction. The additional years point to the “severity of the crime,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Jonas.

Jonas also said that even though Slade has been sentenced, the case remains open because three or four accomplices remain at large.

“We will not give up trying to find the other perpetrators,” Jonas said. “There is at least the getaway driver and another man with a gun. We also believe he had help from the inside.”

During the trial, Slade testified that he had nothing to do with Maldonado’s death, and blamed his predicament on the mother of a man he killed in 1987 over an alleged drug deal. The mother had called police and said that Slade was the man in a police composite drawing circulated after the 1992 shooting.

Slade, who was convicted of manslaughter for the 1987 shooting, had been on parole for 25 days before shooting Maldonado.