Double-Murder Case May Need 2nd Jury

Prosecutors probably will ask for a second jury to be called in the penalty phase of Sergio Nelson’s murder trial, after a first jury deadlocked earlier this week, said Richard Jenkins, head deputy district attorney in Pomona.

Nelson, 20, of La Verne, was found guilty Dec. 13 of first-degree murder in the Oct. 2, 1993, deaths of Robin Shirley, 23, and Lee Thompson, 22, both of Pomona.

The jury that convicted Nelson could not decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life without possibility of parole. Although 11 jurors voted for the death penalty, one person held out for life in prison, causing a mistrial to be called Tuesday in the penalty phase.

Such an occurrence is rare but not unheard of, Jenkins said. A hearing Jan. 10 will decide if a second jury for the penalty phase will be called. Because the case involves multiple murder and because the first jury overwhelmingly voted for the death penalty, a request for a second jury is likely, Jenkins said.

Nelson, who lived with his grandmother, had worked at the Target store on Foothill Boulevard for about a year. Tension had been growing between him and Shirley in the weeks leading up to the shooting, police said. Shirley, a Target employee for nearly three years, was given a promotion that Nelson had sought.

Prosecutor Gary Hearnsberger argued that Nelson waited for Shirley and killed her at 4 a.m. as she and Thompson sat in Thompson’s car outside the store waiting for their shifts to begin. Thompson was a new employee who police said happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But Assistant Public Defender Roger Whitenhill said Nelson, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since 1991, was in no mental state to plan the murders.

A second jury would not rehear the entire case but would hear enough of the evidence to decide on the penalty, Jenkins said.