Second Man Convicted of Deputy Slaying

A jury convicted a gang member of murder Thursday for his role in the robbery and slaying of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy but rejected charges that could have brought the death penalty.

The verdict was considered a partial victory for Andre Willis, who admitted robbing a Buena Park hair salon in 1997 but said he had no idea his crime partner was going to kill the Los Angeles County deputy.

Willis swiveled in his courtroom seat and grinned at his mother after a courtroom clerk read the verdict, which came during the jury’s third day of deliberations in Santa Ana.

Willis’ mother did not notice his glance; her eyes were closed in prayer. Across the courtroom, the fiancee of slain deputy Shayne York shook her head in disgust.

“How do you come back with first-degree murder but not special circumstances? It’s ludicrous,” said the deputy’s fiancee, Jennifer Parish, who was with him when he was killed. “I have tremendous guilt for the fact I’m here and he’s not. . . . And now we’ll carry additional guilt on top of that.”

Jurors declined to comment as they left the courtroom. They convicted Willis of murder, but rejected a special circumstance that the slaying was part of a robbery. Willis, 35, faces a life sentence with a minimum of more than 300 years in prison.

York’s shooting shocked the Southern California law enforcement community because of its random and unprovoked nature. Willis’ partner, Kevin Boyce, shot the deputy in the back of the head after finding the badge in his wallet. (Boyce was convicted of murder last year and sentenced to death.)

Parish, also a Los Angeles County deputy, testified that she could feel her fiance’s blood pooling against her as the couple lay on the salon floor.

The couple had stopped by the salon so York could get a quick haircut while on their way to Las Vegas for a family vacation. Parish’s sister, Amy, who worked at the salon, was cutting York’s hair when Willis and Boyce stormed in, armed with handguns.

Willis told the jury that the shooting caught him by surprise, that he never intended for anyone to die during the robbery. His lawyers, Milton Grimes and Early Hawkins, criticized Orange County prosecutors’ decision to pursue the death penalty against a defendant who didn’t fire a weapon.

Willis’ mother, Glorious Baxter, said she has already expressed her sorrow to York’s mother.

“I know it’s been tough for Mr. York’s family,” Baxter said. “But we’ve suffered too. For three years-plus we’ve not known what his destiny would be.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Brent defended the decision to pursue the death penalty, noting Willis’ prior convictions for armed robbery and weapons possession. He characterized Willis as the orchestrator of the robbery and noted he willingly committed another robbery with Boyce after the shooting.

“Willis, I think, deserved the death penalty. But he’ll never get out of prison, so I’m OK with that,” the prosecutor said.

York, 26, had fulfilled a lifelong dream by becoming a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. His fiancee still works for the department, now as a patrol deputy out of the Lakewood station.

Parish, with tears streaming down her face, said a second death verdict would have been a fitting tribute for York.

“A good guy died that night,” she said.