Two Gang Members Found Guilty of Murder of Beloved Local Coach

A jury today convicted two gang members for the murder of beloved youth coach and Sheriff’s Department employee Victor McClinton in Pasadena on Christmas Day, 2012.

The pair were reportedly aiming for someone else when they shot down McClinton.

Both Larry Darnell Bishop Jr., 23, of Chino, and Jerron Donald Harris, 27, of Pasadena were found guilty of one count each of first degree murder with gun and gang allegations and the special circumstances of shooting from a motor vehicle and gang participation and attempted murder, said Los Angeles County District Attorney spokesperson Richard Santiago.

Harris was found guilty of two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, Bishop was acquitted of those two counts, Santiago said.

The trial was eight weeks long. Jury deliberated for 15 days. Both face life in prison without the possibility of parole, Santiago.

Prosecutors argued that Bishop and Harris murdered McClinton as he walked a friend to his car after a Christmas visit when McClinton was struck down by gunfire on Newport Avenue near Wyoming Street.

Bishop and Harris were each charged with murder with special circumstances of discharging a firearm from a moving vehicle and murder to benefit a criminal street gang, two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The two defendants were also charged with one count each of attempted murder involving the man that prosecutors say was their intended target, who was wounded in a hand and ending up crashing his vehicle into a tree, and three related counts. That man, however, testified during a preliminary hearing that Bishop and Harris were not his assailants.

At the first trial’s opening, prosecutor Amy Ashvanian had called Victor McClinton “an innocent man” who was struck by gunfire while outside his home saying goodbye to a friend who had delivered a Christmas gift.

Ashvanian called the shooting “a gang-related murder,” and said two houses in the neighborhood were struck by the gunfire.

Elena Saris, Bishop’s attorney, said there was no denying that a “very good man was killed” and that the killing was senseless and random. But she said she could not see evidence that says her client was in the car involved in the shooting when the incident happened.

Harris’ attorney, Richard Lasting, also disputed the prosecution’s contention that his client was involved in the crime.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 15, Santiago said.