Man, 20, convicted in killing

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

A jury determined on Wednesday that a 20-year-old alleged member of the Crips was guilty of murder and not acting in self-defense when he killed an alleged member of the rival Bloods gang in May 2003.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure is scheduled to sentence Montrail Smith on May 4 in the killing of 20-year-old Donald "Duck" Lolar in the parking lot of the Casa Sorrento apartment complex, 3580 E. Alexander Road.

Smith also has a another murder trial on the horizon. He is accused of opening fire in a schoolyard and killing Demond Branch in that case and is awaiting the appointment of a lawyer to defend him.

Cheif Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said Smith was offered a deal in which he would have pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and been sentenced to concurrent prison time.

Smith rejected the negotiation and now faces the possibility of consecutive life sentences if convicted of murdering Branch.

Coumou said Lolar's murder was an example of an alleged member of the Bloods gang-member finding himself "in the wrong place at the wrong time and likely wearing the wrong color clothes."

In opening arguments Monday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said Lolar had gotten into an argument with his live-in girlfriend, Shatiya Thompson after she had picked him from Donna Street where he had been hanging out with his friends. Because of the argument, Lolar had decided to spend the night with his aunt who lived at the Casa Sorrento complex instead of going home with Thompson.

He said when Thompson got home she was told Lolar had called and wanted his clothes back because their relationship was over. Thompson collected his things and drove back to the apartment complex where she gave him his clothes in plastic bags, but waited around to watch Lolar walk back to the apartments, the prosecutor said.

She saw Smith and another man, Antonio Hudson, came down the road riding scooters and called out to Smith asking him "where are you from," Coumou said.

Smith then pulled out a "long-handled weapon" and Thompson heard gunshots go off, the prosecutor said.

Coumou said eight gunshots would be fired in total with three striking Lolar, the fatal blast entering through his back and "destroying his heart." Cuomou said none of the police, medical personnel or eyewitnesses at the scene would testify to finding any weapon on Lolar or close to where his body was found in the parking lot.