Jury convicts men in killing mother of 4, injuring girl

Two men were found guilty Tuesday in the slaying of a 28-year-old mother of four in her northeast valley home, where her daughter was critically wounded from gunfire.

Prosecutors said David James Burns fired six shots through the apartment in the 5600 block of Meikle Lane in August 2010 while he and Willie Darnell Mason robbed Derecia Newman, leaving 12-year-old De’Vonia with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Newman was found with a gunshot wound to her head, clutching a $20-bill that prosecutors said the defendants handed her to make her believe they showed up to her apartment to buy drugs.

On one of the last days of the month-long trial, prosecutors withdrew the death penalty for Burns, who agreed that if convicted he would not appeal a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mason had not been facing capital punishment, but he still faces a possible sentence of life without parole.

Defense lawyers for Burns had argued that another man, Jerome Thomas, the owner of the revolver used in the slaying, was actually the gunman.

Prosecutors said that in the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 2010, Mason, who goes by the nickname G-Dogg, and Burns, also known as D-Shot, showed up with Stephanie Cousins, who is still awaiting trial, to rob Newman after buying marijuana and cocaine.

The Clark County jury of four men and eight women convicted Mason, now 32, and Burns, now 23, on eight counts each including first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary in possession of a firearm, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm.

After Cousins handed Newman $20, Mason and Burns pushed their way in and Burns started firing from a revolver, authorities said. The first shot to Newman’s head killed her, while De’Vonia ran to a bathroom in the master bedroom. The gunman continued firing, with one bullet going through a refrigerator, skimming down the hall and hitting a dresser drawer in the closet of the children’s bedroom, according to police. Another bullet blasted through a vacuum and into the master bedroom.

As De’Vonia stepped out of the bathroom, a bullet struck her in the gut. The girl has since recovered physically from the shooting, but still suffers from emotional trauma, according to prosecutors.

Cousins told police that the group stole some marijuana and about $100 from the apartment.

The suspected getaway driver, Monica Martinez, pleaded guilty in October and testified on behalf of the prosecution.

While questioning her for hours, defense lawyers tried to paint Martinez as a perpetual liar who wanted to protect Thomas, also known as Job-Loc. She admitted that she was in love with Thomas, but denied that he was at the scene of the shooting.

Thomas is currently serving a 12-year sentence in a California prison on a kidnapping charge. While he was not charged as an accomplice in Newman’s death, a warrant has been issued for his arrest on charges of accessory to murder with a deadly weapon and accessory to robbery with a deadly weapon.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker