New Evidence Helps Win Conviction

After new evidence emerged during his retrial, a North Hollywood man was found guilty of second-degree murder Thursday for the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old youth.

Shawn Probst, 36, was convicted by a Van Nuys jury of the killing of Daniel Singer of North Hollywood. He faces life in prison without parole under the California three strikes law.

On April 24, 1999, Probst met a group of youths that included Singer at a church carnival, then followed them to a house in the 4900 block of Auckland Avenue in North Hollywood.

The youths didn’t like Probst because he made racist comments and slurs, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino. Later that night, when Probst was talking loudly and Singer told him to lower his voice, Probst pulled out a knife and slashed the youth across the neck. Probst also allegedly stabbed a second man, Carlos Lopez, now 20.

Jurors could not agree on whether Probst assaulted Lopez, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Leland B. Harris ordered them to continue deliberations today on that charge.

Probst’s first trial in March ended in a hung jury because some jurors believed his claims of self-defense, D’Agostino said.

But although Probst also testified at the retrial, there was stronger evidence against him. For example, DNA evidence that was absent from the first trial because of backlogs in LAPD’s crime lab was presented for the second trial, D’Agostino said.

“It was extraordinarily difficult for the family to have to go through this a second time,” D’Agostino said.

Wiping away tears, the victim’s mother, Andrea Singer, said she was “satisfied with the verdict.”