Former Marine Found Guilty

An ex-Marine has been convicted and a second found not guilty in a 2003 drive-by shooting that killed a sailor outside a taco stand.

A Superior Court jury Monday convicted Myron A. Thomas, 22, of second-degree murder. A different jury Friday found Kenneth Hall, 20, not guilty. A third ex-Marine pleaded no contest to hiding evidence.

The three men, stationed at Camp Pendleton, served in Iraq during the 2003 assault on Baghdad but were discharged under “other than honorable” conditions after they were arrested.

The fatal shooting on Nov. 19, 2003, was the result of a dispute at a nightspot on the 32nd Street Naval Station frequented by sailors and Marines.

During a five-week trial before Superior Court Judge William Kennedy, Thomas admitted firing shots from a semiautomatic rifle but insisted that he was acting in self-defense. He faces a sentence of at least 40 years to life in prison, officials said.

The evidence was presented simultaneously to two juries, one impaneled to decide the case against Thomas, the other the case against Hall.

“I give thanks to God and to my defense attorney [Allen Bloom]. Both of them always stuck with me,” Hall said after being released from jail.

Sailor Roderick Little, 22, had engaged in a shouting match with several Marines at the club over a woman. The argument spilled into the parking lot; moments later, as Little and others gathered at an off-base taco stand, Thomas and Hall drove by.

As Hall drove, Thomas fired five shots, evidence indicated. Little, struck in the femoral artery, bled to death.

Thomas testified that his experiences in Iraq left him emotionally distraught and given to arguments. Hall testified that he did not realize Thomas was going to open fire.

Little’s mother attended much of the trial, as did Hall’s mother and Thomas’ mother.

“This case is sad all around,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Groch. “We watched three mothers support each other the whole trial, the victim’s mother and the defendants’ mothers. It’s a reminder to everyone that everybody is a loser in a crime like this.”

The third defendant, Bernard Jones, 19, pleaded no contest in February to being an accessory after the murder by hiding shell casings. He was sentenced to time served while awaiting trial.