Pair Guilty in Murder of 4 Men at Carwash
A Superior Court jury Thursday found two gang members guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of four men during a carwash robbery in Compton last year.
Aswad Pops, 28, and Byron Paul Wilson, 22, both of Long Beach, face possible death penalties. The penalty phase of the trial will begin today.
Pops’ brother, Aziz Pops, 24, was sentenced last October to a year in jail after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property in connection with the crime.
Prosecutors said Charles Hurd, 33, of Corona, owner of the Wheels N Stuff carwash on Sportsman Drive, and three of his employees--Michael Hoard, 41, Shawn Potter, 20, and Jessie Dunn, 36, all of Compton--died Jan. 25, 1998, during the suspects’ violent quest for money and merchandise.
Pops also was convicted of attempted murder in connection with a home-invasion robbery in north Long Beach on Feb. 6, 1998. He has two previous “strikes” for robbery and drug-sales convictions in 1991.
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