Families of Slain Pair Give Emotional Testimony

The families of two teen-agers murdered during a robbery at a Subway sandwich shop gave emotional testimony about the effect of the deaths on their lives Monday to a jury that will determine if the killer should be executed.

“Words absolutely fail to convey the devastation,” said Steve Berry, father of the slain Brian Berry. “It’s like trying to convey a scene to a blind man.”

James Robinson Jr., a 25-year-old part-time college student, was convicted one year ago in the shooting deaths of Berry, 18, and James White, 19. The jury that found him guilty of the double murder was unable to decide if Robinson should be executed for the June 30, 1991, killings, which prosecutors believe were committed to cover up a robbery that netted Robinson less than $600.

The pair were killed execution-style, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth L. Barshop. While he was on his knees, White was shot through the top of his head, the prosecutor said. As Berry watched, the gunman fired one shot into his face and then pumped another round into the side of his head, a coroner testified.

Prosecutors called the parents to the witness stand to tell a second jury about the impact of the shootings on their families.

White, who worked at the restaurant, and Berry, who went to visit before the store’s closing, had been friends since the fourth grade. “The boys are buried together,” said White’s mother, Kristine. “We figured they would want it that way.”

Kristine White, who is an elementary school teacher and single mother, testified about the horror of being summoned to a hospital and seeing her wounded son. Even after doctors pronounced James White dead, life-support systems continued to force him to breath, she said between tears.

“Friends expect you to be over it, but they don’t realize you never are,” she said.

Berry’s twin sister, Shannon, was home alone when police came knocking on the door of the family’s Northridge home. Her parents were spending the weekend in a cabin near Big Bear that did not have a phone, she said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had to tell my parents anything more horrible than my brother had been killed, their son,” Shannon Berry said, choking back sobs.

“Instead of celebrating birthdays, I have to mourn on them,” she said.

Defense attorney Richard A. Leonard did not cross-examine any of the four family members who testified.

Robinson is expected to testify Wednesday. Leonard said his client will once again deny having anything to do with the killings, even though he will testify that he was in the store after the murders took place.

The jury now hearing evidence in the Robinson case will be asked to decide if he should be put to death for his crimes or if he should spent the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.