L.A. Deputy’s Murderer Gets Death Penalty

A judge sentenced an alleged gang member to death Friday for murdering an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy after finding his badge on him during a hair salon robbery in Buena Park.

About 40 uniformed Los Angeles deputies watched somberly as Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel imposed the sentence in Santa Ana.

Kevin Boyce, 29, an alleged member of the Crips gang in Compton, found Shayne York’s badge while searching the deputy’s wallet during a 1997 robbery at De’Cut hair salon.

According to testimony, Boyce kicked the deputy in the side, called him a “white pig,” then shot him in the back of the head. York’s fiancee, fellow Deputy Jennifer Parish, was lying beside him at the time.

Parish was one of five people who testified at the standing-room-only hearing to urge Fasel to impose the death sentence. Parish, who still works as a deputy, said she was so devastated by the loss that she contemplated suicide.

York and Parish stopped by the hair salon--near Knott’s Berry Farm--while on their way to Las Vegas for a vacation. Parish’s sister, Amy, was cutting York’s hair when Boyce and another gunman burst in and ordered the three to get on the floor.

“It was I who made that haircut appointment. If only I had made it earlier or another day,” said Parish, who attends weekly counseling to deal with her grief. “I just wish I could wake up from this horrible dream I’m living.”

Each day, Parish sees reminders that York’s slaying was no dream. She wears York’s badge at work; his uniform hangs in her locker.

“I will never forgive Kevin Boyce for what he did,” she said.

Boyce, who shouted at jurors earlier this month after they recommended the death penalty, sat quietly throughout much of Friday’s hearing. While Parish spoke, he leafed through a book, appearing uninterested.

Deputy Public Defender Ronald Klar told Fasel that the death penalty is an act of hatred and revenge. He urged the judge to use his authority to reject the jury’s recommendation and instead sentence Boyce to life in prison without the possibility of parole. No judge in Orange County has overruled such a jury recommendation in the 23 years since California reinstated the death penalty.

“Do we actually believe we can cure the fear, the hatred, the maladjusted by killing?” Klar asked. “Kevin’s life is worth saving.”

Fasel, however, followed the jury’s recommendation, drawing an emotional outcry from Boyce’s aunt, seated in the courtroom’s front row. Hattie Wilson trembled and cried when the judge announced his decision.

“Kevin was a good child--just things went wrong. It was not his parents’ [fault], just society,” Wilson said outside the courtroom. “I’m devastated about it.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Brent declined to comment on the sentence, citing a gag order.

Boyce will be transported within 10 days to San Quentin state prison, where most of the state’s 575 condemned prisoners are housed. His conviction and death sentence will automatically be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Andre Willis, Boyce’s alleged partner in the shooting, is awaiting trial. He also faces a possible death sentence.