Authorities said Victor Talavera, 57, clung to the front of Jamal Darby’s car for about three blocks after Darby stole socks and t-shirts from the store near Anaheim Street and Magnolia Avenue on July 23, 2020. Eventually Darby shook off Talavera, who fell into the traffic lanes where he was hit by a car and died, police said.
The jurors deliberated for less than a day before returning a verdict and convicting Darby of second degree murder. He was found not guilty of robbery.
Darby, who was 33 at the time of the murder, will be sentenced on December 13. He faces 15 years to life in prison.
During closing arguments in the trial last week, prosecutors said Darby entered the store with the intention of stealing several items of clothing. Footage from a camera inside the store showed Darby wearing socks and t-shirts inside the store. Video footage captured him running down the street where prosecutors said he parked his car in preparation for the crime.
Talavera, who was working at the store that night, sued Darby in an attempt to recover the items, prosecutors said. That’s when Talavera jumped on the hood of the getaway car before Darby drove off, according to Assistant District Attorney Karen Brako.
In response, Darby “deliberately drove fast and swerved to get Talavera out of the car,” Brako told jurors. “If you know someone is in your car, you pull over. You don’t take off at high speed.
Eventually, Talavera was ejected from the vehicle and fell into the eastbound lanes of Anaheim Street before Darby took off. Darby was arrested about three weeks later near his home while driving the car that detectives believe was used in the crime, prosecutors say.
Darby never disputed that he intended to rob the store that night. But his lawyer, Andrea Diaz, argued that because he dropped the items before getting into his car and driving away with Talavera on the bonnet, it was not a theft.
Diaz blamed Talavera, saying he made the “decision to jump in a car for t-shirts.”
“If Talavera had just chased the guy down and taken the license plate number and reported it to the police, then that would be petty theft,” she said.
Additionally, Diaz argued that Darby had no time to consider the ramifications of his actions, meaning he shouldn’t be convicted of murder because he didn’t show “a willful and conscious disregard for human life”.
“He didn’t have time to think about the decision… He swerved to get a guy out of his car,” Diaz said. “He couldn’t have expected Talavera to jump on his car.”
Brako countered by telling the jurors that they were there to judge Darby’s actions, not Talavera’s.
“We are not here to shame him for his actions,” Brako said. “You can’t ignore the law because of what the defense attorney thinks.”
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