Man Sentenced to Life for Fatal Burning
An ex-convict who kidnapped and robbed a 21-year-old woman, then burned her to death, was sentenced Friday in Superior Court to life in prison without parole.
Michael Lynn Crosby, 38, abducted Katrice Whitfield of South Los Angeles on July 9, 1999, from Figueroa Street and Imperial Highway in South-Central Los Angeles and killed her so she could not identify him, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey Jonas said.
At a machine shop on Inez Avenue in South Whittier he doused her with gasoline and set her afire, according to the district attorney’s office. She was the mother of a 2-year-old girl.
In a separate court hearing involving the same case, Crosby’s stepson, Raymond Avery Willis, 18, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and kidnapping. He is expected to be sentenced April 26 to the California Youth Authority until he is 25 years old.
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