Gang Member Sentenced To Life In Prison For Security Guard Murder

A jury recommended today that a gang member convicted in the beating death of a security guard in Palm Springs be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The panel rejected the death penalty for Jamar Thomas, who will be formally sentenced on June 18.

The six-man, six-woman panel began deliberations Monday afternoon.

Thomas was convicted earlier this month of the June 9, 2007, murder of Bower Security Co. guard Wallace Brown near Rosa Parks Road and El Dorado Boulevard in Palm Springs.

The panel also found true special circumstance allegations that the defendant committed the crime for the benefit of a gang and in the commission of a robbery.

Deputy District Attorney Manny Bustamante said that Thomas was one of four defendants who dragged Brown from his van at a construction site and beat him severely.

The retired Marine died at a hospital three days later without regaining consciousness.

During the trial, Bustamante highlighted the defendant’s alleged involvement in the assault and kidnapping of two Marines near where the security guard was attacked.

Thomas’ attorney, Demitra Tolbert, asked that the panel spare her client’s life, underscoring his difficult childhood, which included being abandoned by his mother, who was addicted to crack and heroin.

She also asked the panel to take into account that Thomas was “barely 18 at the time” of the crime.

Also charged in Brown’s death and awaiting trial are alleged Northside Gateway Posse Crips gang members Darius Lee, 21; Jerrett Lewis, 20; and Akil Williams, 19.