Jury begins to decide fate of man who killed 4

Greg Tuttle

Thursday, June 15, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Donte Johnson is either a brutal career criminal who should be put to death or the victim of a traumatic childhood who deserves mercy and a chance to improve while serving a life sentence.

Those are the choices before a Clark County District Court jury today deciding the fate of the convicted quadruple murderer.

Jury deliberations began this morning at 8 o'clock in the penalty phase of Johnson's trial for the Aug. 14, 1998, killing of four people during a botched robbery.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Johnson, who was convicted last Friday of four counts of first-degree murder. The two-day hearing to determine his punishment ended late Wednesday with prosecutors and defense attorneys trying to sway the jury to either end Johnson's life or spare it through a life sentence.

The jury has four choices in deciding a penalty for the 23-year-old from Los Angeles. It can sentence him to 100 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. He can be sentenced to life with parole after 40 years, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Or he can be put to death by lethal injection.

During closing statements Wednesday, prosecutors Gary Guymon and Robert Daskas described Johnson as the "worst kind of criminal" who committed the "worst possible crime."

"Is life in prison sufficient for the man who created this nightmare, or is something more required?" Daskas said while showing the jury an enlarged picture of the crime scene.

Johnson was convicted of killing Peter Talamantez, 17, Jeffrey Biddle, 19, Tracey Gorringe, 20 and Matthew Mowen, 19, after binding all four with duct tape and shooting each in the back of the head.

Johnson and two accomplices went to the Terra Linda Avenue home looking to steal cash and drugs.

Prosecutors also presented evidence of Johnson's criminal past, including a conviction for armed bank robbery and his connection to a shooting and an unsolved homicide that occurred days before the quadruple murder.

Public defenders Dayvid Figler and Joseph Sciscento countered by showing jurors Johnson's troubled childhood. Born with the name John White Jr. to an abusive father and drug-addicted mother, Johnson grew up on the mean streets of south-central Los Angeles where he turned to crime in order to survive, the defense attorneys said.

"Don't kill him," Sciscento said. "It's not a normal life he lived."

Johnson changed his name when he fled to Las Vegas after violating his parole on the bank robbery charge. He briefly took the stand Wednesday and read from a prepared statement in a voice barely audible in the courtroom.

Johnson said he cried Tuesday night in his jail cell after hearing emotional testimony from the mothers of the victims.

"I didn't try to stop the tears from flowing because it felt good," he said.

Johnson's mother, sister and a cousin also testified, describing how the family lived for a time in a shack without water, electricity or plumbing. A bucket served as a toilet by the 10 children who were often crammed together in the dilapidated shelter.

Johnson's grandmother, Jane Edwards, was the last witnesses and showed jurors a home video of Johnson as a child singing in a church choir. She pleaded with the jury to spare her grandson's life.

"I love my grandson, and I don't want him to be taken away completely," she said. "If he did all those things, he should be punished, but not death. Please don't kill my grandson."