Man Gets 29 Years to Life in Friend’s Slaying

Thomas Corral and Roger Rowland were close.

They grew up together in the Ventura Avenue area, attended the same school, whiled away afternoons at the same youth club and were jumped into the same gang.

But on Thursday, Corral was sentenced to 29 years to life in state prison for killing Rowland--a crime committed when Corral learned of a romantic link between his former girlfriend and his 23-year-old buddy.

While gang violence is not unusual, authorities say it is rare for one member to harm another in the same gang.

“He broke the first rule when he went in there and killed the guy,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory G. Phillips, who prosecuted the 24-year-old defendant.

An attorney for Corral tried unsuccessfully Thursday to have his client’s first-degree murder conviction reduced to second-degree murder. The defense lawyer told a judge that Corral did not plan his friend’s slaying, instead shooting him during a heated moment.

Disagreeing with that statement, Phillips argued that Corral had made it known that he intended to execute anyone who dated Melinda Corona, the mother of his small daughter. And that included fellow gang members, Phillips said outside court.

Before Rowland’s slaying, Corral had moved to Las Vegas to avoid arrest on a Los Angeles County warrant.

But hours after he heard of the Corona-Rowland affair on July 20, Corral returned to the area, kicked in Corona’s Kirk Avenue apartment door and shot his longtime buddy in the stomach, according to trial testimony.

Phillips said Corral was blinded with jealous rage, and not even his gang ties were strong enough to make him see past it. Rowland died an hour later.

“Tommy Corral made it known on the Avenue that Melinda Corona was his property,” the prosecutor said. “Nobody was supposed to date her, touch her or mess with her. Tommy trusted Roger. They were good friends, if not best friends.

“In his mind,” Phillips added, “Roger had betrayed him.”

On the eve of his sentencing, Corral sat calmly through a jailhouse interview, scoffing at the prosecutor’s version of events.

A young man with a medium build and short, black hair, Corral maintained he went to Corona’s three-room apartment to confront her, not knowing that Rowland would be there.

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When he walked into her bedroom, Rowland pulled out a silver handgun, Corral alleged. For him, Corral insisted, it was a matter of shoot or be shot.

“You’d have to be sick to want to kill your friend,” he declared, adding, “I am not sick.”

Corral and Rowland met when they were about 11. They played pool and hung around together after school at the local youth club. They attended DeAnza Middle School together and joined the neighborhood gang, according to Corral and authorities.

When Rowland was sent to the California Youth Authority about five years ago, the two kept in touch, Corral said.

After being released in 1992, Rowland moved to Colorado, married and tried to persuade Corral to join him, Corral said. According to Beverly Rowland, the victim’s 19-year-old widow, Corral had considered moving in with them but decided not to.

Corral said he liked the excitement of Ventura street life too much to move to snowy Colorado. “What am I going to do in Colorado?” he asked.

In 1994, after a warrant for kidnaping was issued for him, Corral said he decided to flee to Nevada in the belief that out-of-state officials would not want to arrest him.

Meanwhile, Rowland moved back to Ventura after separating from his wife, and Corral said he and Rowland got together in Oxnard about a month before the slaying to reminisce and drink beer.

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Corral asked him for a favor: Look after Corona and their young child, Corral said before returning to Vegas.

“I told him if she needed anything, give it to her, and I’d pay him back later,” Corral said.

Prosecutor Phillips said Corral was concerned with other men pursuing Corona.

“Tommy wanted Roger to let everybody know that this was still Tommy’s girl,” Phillips said.

Corona, who testified at Corral’s trial, could not be reached for comment.

When Corral learned that Corona was romantically involved with another man, he showed up in Ventura unannounced. He didn’t want to drive because of the arrest warrants, so he had enlisted a 19-year-old friend to give him a ride from Las Vegas.

On his way, Corral stopped in Victorville and called Corona. It was there that he learned the identity of Corona’s new boyfriend: his close friend Rowland.

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Shortly after midnight on July 21, Corral burst into Corona’s apartment. Corona and Rowland were in her bedroom, talking. They were surprised to see Corral.

In the interview, Corral said he was surprised to see Rowland too. He only wanted to talk to Corona. But Rowland, he insisted, pulled a handgun.

“He pulled out his gun,” he said. “I pulled mine and started shooting. When he fell, I picked up his gun.”

Authorities say Rowland never had a firearm. The only thing he was holding, they said, was a bottle of beer. Corona testified that Rowland did not have a gun.

Authorities said Corral kicked his wounded friend and ordered him out of the apartment. Once outside, Corral kissed him on the cheek, apologized and left.

Now, with Corral off to prison and Rowland dead, Rowland’s widow wonders what will happen to the children the two men had. Corral has two small children, one with Corona and one with a second woman.

And Beverly Rowland is the mother of the victim’s 2-year-old daughter, Salina.

“She’s going to want to know her father, and I’ll have nothing to say,” the young mother said.