Gang member gets life without parole in 2001 Compton slayings
A gang member has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for a 2001 drive-by shooting that killed a Compton father and his 2-year-old daughter, a case solved with DNA evidence nearly a quarter-century later.
Jahon Terez Smith, 50, was convicted by a jury in August of two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder, with a special circumstance of multiple murders. He was sentenced Tuesday.
“Stephen Murphy did what any father would do when he tried to shield his daughter from the gunshots. For 25 years, the victims’ family has grieved the tremendous loss of their loved ones and waited for this moment to hear that the gunman will never terrorize another neighborhood again,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
On Aug. 8, 2001, Smith drove through the 13100 block of South Willowbrook Avenue intending to kill rival gang members, as he and his front-seat passenger fired from the car, prosecutors said.
Murphy, 25, was carrying his daughter, Kali, as they ran from the gunfire. Both were killed by a single bullet fired by the passenger, who has never been identified. Smith tried to kill three other people that evening, two of whom were shot and survived. DNA evidence linked Smith to the crimes.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson of the Major Crimes Division prosecuted the case.
Price heads to trial-setting hearing Friday in corruption case
LA City Councilmember Curren Price (D-South Central Los Angeles, University Park, Exposition Park, Watts, Florence, Manchester Square) returns to court tomorrow, where a judge could set a trial date on public corruption charges.
Price faces 12 felony counts: five of grand theft by embezzlement of public funds, four of conflict of interest and three of perjury.
Prosecutors say the city’s Housing Authority and LA Metro paid his wife more than $800,000 while Price voted to award those agencies multimillion-dollar contracts, according to LAist. He’s also accused of embezzling about $33,800 in city funds from 2013 to 2017 for medical benefits for Del Richardson, whom he allegedly claimed as his wife while still legally married to another woman. Price has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has argued that Price didn’t know about the conflicts when he voted.
“Just as LA Councilmember Curren Price cannot wall himself off from his ethical and legal obligations, he cannot wall himself off from the fact that he is going to face trial,” said Hochman in August.
A judge has ordered Price to stand trial twice this year: in January, after a preliminary hearing, and again in August, after rejecting his latest motion to dismiss, according to LA Downtown News. If convicted, he faces up to 11 years and four months in prison. Price, who was charged in 2023, is termed out and leaves the council in December. LACP last covered his bid to avoid trial in August.
Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins of the Public Integrity Division is prosecuting the case.
Noguez corruption trial testimony resumes 13 years after arrest
Testimony resumed this week in the corruption trial of former Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, more than 13 years after his arrest.
Noguez, born Juan Renaldo Rodriguez, and co-defendants Ramin Salari, a tax agent, and Mark McNeil, a former appraiser in the assessor’s office, are accused of lowering property valuations in exchange for campaign contributions, a scheme prosecutors say cost taxpayers about $12 million, according to Courthouse News Service. The trial opened in April.
Salari allegedly wrote three checks to Noguez’s campaign totaling $180,000, which he called loans and prosecutors call bribes. The prosecution’s expected star witness is Scott Schenter, a former appraiser who agreed to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Noguez stepped aside as assessor in 2012, the year he was arrested, and spent nearly five months in jail before his release on $1 million bail. LACP covered earlier trial testimony in August.
Deputy District Attorney Bobby Zoumberakis of the Public Integrity Division is prosecuting the case.
Deputy, corrections officer, tutor face drug smuggling cases
Three drug smuggling cases due back in court this week accuse people trusted with public safety or the care of incarcerated youth of helping move drugs.
LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Meiser is among 18 people indicted by a grand jury in February 2025 in an alleged drug smuggling operation tied to Mexican Mafia associates inside the county jail system. Meiser worked at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. The case was set to return to court Tuesday.
“Corruption and criminal activity will not be tolerated in our justice system — especially within our jails,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman when the indictment was announced.
Former California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer Jesus Reyes and Jose Luis Aldahir Rocha Luque were charged in April after investigators found 20 kilograms of cocaine and nearly $200,000 in cash at a Rowland Heights stash house in 2023. Reyes allegedly drove the cocaine from Mexico, and he resigned from CDCR after being charged, according to MyNewsLA. Their case was set to return to court Monday.
Alejandro Lopez, a contract tutor with the nonprofit Student Nest, and Orlando Cuevas, a young adult ward, were charged in July 2025 after probation investigators allegedly saw Lopez hand Cuevas a tape-wrapped bundle of about 170 Xanax pills at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. The charges came amid a string of overdoses at the facility. Their case was due back in court Wednesday.
Deputy District Attorney Abbigail Briones is prosecuting the jail case, and Deputy District Attorneys Brad Harmon and Brandy Chase of the Justice System Integrity Division are prosecuting the cocaine and Los Padrinos cases.
Brothers charged as unlicensed contractors in Eaton Fire zone
Andrew and Daniel Escarzaga, Chino brothers charged with contracting without a license in the Eaton Fire disaster zone, were due back in court Wednesday in Pasadena.
The brothers were among five men charged in December after an undercover operation by the DA’s Bureau of Investigation and the California Contractors State License Board. Each faces one felony count of contracting without a license during a natural disaster.
“My office is cracking down on criminal contractors who prey on residents who have already lost so much and cannot afford to lose more,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman when the charges were announced.
Hochman has urged fire survivors to check that contractors are licensed and to report unlicensed ones to the Contractors State License Board. Under state law, contractors generally can’t ask for a down payment of more than $1,000. Survivors can verify a license at cslb.ca.gov.
Deputy District Attorney Alice Kurs of the Consumer Protection Division is prosecuting the case.
