Sheriff’s Deputy Shot During Robbery Dies

A 26-year-old Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy shot in the head during the holdup of an Orange County beauty salon died Saturday after being taken off life support, ending the somber vigil his grieving family, fiancee, friends and fellow officers had maintained at his side for nearly 48 hours.

Deputy Shayne York, a two-year veteran of the department and the son of a retired deputy, was shot once in the head execution-style when two armed men rifling through his personal effects during the robbery came upon his badge and discovered he was an off-duty law enforcement officer.

After his parents granted written authorization, York was taken off a respirator that had aided his breathing at 4:30 p.m., said Sheriff’s Capt. Taylor Moorehead, who was the deputy’s supervisor at the Pitchess Detention Center-East facility in Castaic.

Doctors at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana had warned family and friends that York was not expected to live long after the life-support devices were disconnected. He died at 8:12 p.m.

York began having trouble breathing after he was taken off the respirator, Moorehead said. York’s breathing stopped as nurses tried to move him in an effort to ease his distress, Moorehead said.

“This is just closure on this end,” the captain said, fighting back tears. “The family is devastated.”

About 100 off-duty deputies were standing vigil at the hospital when York died. At the slain deputy’s bedside were his parents, his brother and his fiancee, Sheriff’s Deputy Jennifer Parish, 24, who is also assigned to the Pitchess facility. The couple had planned to marry next June.

Parish also was robbed, but her life was spared--reportedly because she is a woman. The robbers took her engagement ring.

After York was pronounced dead, a group of about 15 sheriff’s deputies huddled in the hospital parking lot where they spoke quietly among themselves, some choking back tears, others crying openly. York’s family was not available for comment.

One of the deputies in the group described himself as York’s very close friend. He said the slain deputy was “a partner, friend. He’s a hero, that’s all he is.”

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Meanwhile, authorities maintained an unusually tight grip on information regarding York’s killing, including the identities of two suspects who were arrested about two hours after the Thursday night shooting when Fullerton police spotted them traveling west toward Los Angeles on the Riverside Freeway.

Investigators are probing the suspects’ alleged ties to a Los Angeles County faction of the Crips street gang, law enforcement sources said Saturday. The suspects have told authorities that a third person, not present at the time their arrest, was the triggerman in the salon robbery, according to sources. Investigators on the case declined to comment.

The pair, described only as two men ages 26 and 30, had been booked on suspicion of robbery and attempted murder, but were expected to face murder charges after York died, police officials said.

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“I’d be surprised if Buena Park police didn’t file murder charges first thing Monday morning,” Moorehead said. “It’s pretty clear that this is a capital case.”

Susan LeMaster, a friend of Parish, said she and York were “both so young, so in love with each other, making all these preparations for their life together.”

The couple, LeMaster said, already had planned their wedding reception at the Orange County Mining Co. restaurant. An employee there said Saturday that Parish had booked the wedding reception for June 13.

Like York, Parish has a familial link to the Sheriff’s Department. Her father is a deputy assigned to the Lakewood station.

On Friday, Sheriff Sherman Block told reporters he was devastated that one of his deputies was targeted solely because he carried a badge.

“I can’t recall a more cold-blooded crime,” said Block, a 40-year department veteran. “This was a pure execution.”

At the jail where York was assigned, he worked as a “prowler” patrolling a dormitory in the maximum security section. The tall, well-built deputy was known for keeping calm despite his stressful job. Some called him “Sergeant York,” after the unflappable World War I hero portrayed by Gary Cooper in the classic 1941 film.

“He was one of those quiet, strong people,” said Michelle Burk, 26, of Anaheim, who said she and York were both reared in the tight-knit community of Frazier Park, just over the Los Angeles County line in Kern County, near Gorman. “He was always there for you. He was a friend to all of us.”

The longtime acquaintance recalled York’s youthful passion for basketball and his growing interest in law enforcement while a student at Maricopa High School.

“He had no enemies,” she said.

Another longtime friend, Andrea Sramek, 26, of Laguna Hills, said York was “a great leader at everything he did.”

“A lot of parents used Shayne as an example for their children, the kind of person to follow,” Sramek said.

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York was shot Thursday evening during a robbery of the De’ Cut Hair Salon near Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park. York and his fiancee had gone to the shop to visit Parish’s sister, the only employee present at the time, authorities said.

The two armed assailants barged in about 9 p.m. and ordered York, Parish and her sister to the floor, authorities said.

The robbers took $11, Parish’s engagement ring and other personal effects, authorities said. Throughout the tense showdown, York had been cooperative, even polite, police said.

After shooting York, police said the two suspects drove to Yorba Linda, where the pair robbed a Lamppost Pizza. The suspects then sped off in a white Ford Mustang convertible, authorities said, before being spotted, stopped and arrested while on the 91 Freeway headed west. Investigators said they believed the gunmen selected the hair salon and pizza parlor because both were tucked off the street and close to freeways, providing a quick getaway.

Buena Park Mayor Art Brown said he supported the police’s unusual decision to keep the suspects’ identities secret.

“I don’t want to hear about the suspects,” Brown said. “I don’t want them [police] to tell me anything that might contaminate the case. . . . It was a cowardly act by cowardly people who shot a person only because he carried a badge of honor to protect the people.”

Times staff writers Patrick J. McDonnell and Robert J. Lopez in Los Angeles contributed to this story.