Pair found guilty of murdering La Crescenta woman in 2017
A jury convicted two men on Wednesday for the 2017 killing of a 67-year-old woman outside her La Crescenta home.
It took the jury only two days of deliberation before finding 21-year-old Devon White of Lynwood and 22-year-old James Trotter of Long Beach guilty of murdering Hye Soon Oh. The verdict came a year after Oh was shot in the parking garage of her apartment complex in the 2900 block of Montrose Avenue.
The men were also found guilty of second-degree robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Security camera footage screened for the jury showed a car associated with the men following Oh’s vehicle from her business at a Lynwood shopping center on the night of Aug. 8, 2017. Prosecutors said the pair followed Oh back to her La Crescenta apartment where she was robbed and gunned down.
Forensic evidence collected at the scene linked White, who was on probation at the time, to the murder, according to the Glendale Police Department. It was revealed during the trial White’s DNA was found on a purse belonging to Oh.
He was then subsequently tracked down to Los Angeles and was arrested by authorities on Aug. 17. Trotter was taken into custody soon after.
A third co-defendant involved in the crime, 23-year-old Tonaye James of Las Vegas, pleaded no contest in July to one count of second-degree robbery.
White is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29 while Trotter’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 25.
The pair face life in prison without the possibility of parole for Oh’s murder.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
