Just over a year after a 67-year-old woman was gunned down and robbed in Montrose, a 22-year-old man has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for his role in her death, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Long Beach resident James Wesley Trotter, also known as “Man-Man,” was given the life sentence after his accomplice, 21-year-old Devon T. White of Lynwood, was also sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on Aug. 29. Both were found guilty of murder earlier last month.
On the night of Aug. 8, 2017, the two men followed Hye Soon Oh from her Lynwood business to her home in Montrose, where they robbed and killed her, according to prosecutors. She was shot to death and robbed at the parking garage of her apartment building.
When officers arrived to the scene, they found her lying beside a vehicle and suffering from gunshot wounds, police said at the time. She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
In the weeks after the killing, police said White had been arrested after being linked to the scene through forensic evidence.
Trotter was later also connected to the slaying when prosecutors announced charges against him and White in September 2017. At the time, he and White were both identified by authorities as alleged gang members.
A third defendant in the case, 23-year-old Tonaye Eunice James of Las Vegas, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison on Sept. 5 after pleading no contest to second-degree robbery. However, in a DA news release, prosecutors did not reveal James’ role in the crime.
Trotter and White were sentenced after both being convicted of murder, second-degree robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Attorneys with the Hardcore Gang Division of the DA’s office prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Glendale Police Department.