I’m surprised to see this story covered by the LA Times. A 16-year-old named Denmonne Lee planned a robbery that resulted in the murder of a veteran. Lee didn’t pull the trigger but he did plan the crime and give the gun to his accomplice. Afterwards, Lee bragged about it to his girlfriend.
But because of his age and because George Gascon had taken over the DA’s office before the case went to trial, efforts to charge Lee as an adult were dropped. Instead he was considered a model juvenile prisoner who had been successfully rehabilitated. Here’s a description of the murder:
Lee walked up to the VP Fuels and Drive-Thru Dairy in Lancaster on Feb. 19, 2018, and asked the cashier, Ruh, for a cigarette, according to testimony given during an appellate court hearing. The request was a distraction so that his accomplice, Deonta “Fatboy” Johnson, could get close to Ruh with a gun and…
