Reed found guilty in Arbor Way murder, arson
September 22, 2009 12:23 PM
By DAVID HELDRETH, staff writer
Updated at 3:30 p.m. with additional information.
BARSTOW � A 20-year-old man was found guilty of murder Tuesday morning for killing a Barstow woman and setting her house on fire after a burglary gone wrong.
Thomas Deshawn Reed was convicted on charges of first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, two counts of receiving stolen property, arson and vehicle theft. Jurors also found Reed guilty of the special allegations that he committed the murder during the commission of a robbery and burglary.
The charges were related to the Dec. 12, 2008, death of Evelyn Scott, 58. Scott�s body was found inside her home by firefighters who had responded to a fire on Arbor Way.
Scott�s husband, Kennedy Scott, put his face in his hands, cried and left the courtroom when the guilty verdict for the charge of first-degree murder was read aloud.
The jury deliberated for approximately 12 hours before announcing their verdict Tuesday.
Juror Susan Cardenas said most of the jury decided quickly, but there was one juror that held up the verdict.
Cardenas also said the testimony from Desiree Gomez, Reed�s ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, played a large role in the case. Gomez testified during the trial that she took a flat-screen TV, believed by detectives to be stolen from Scott�s house, to her friend�s home. Gomez originally testified that she did not know anything about the TV, but was later granted immunity by the district attorney�s office after admitting she had information about the TV. The Barstow Police Department recovered the TV from the friend�s home in Fontana on August 31.
�When Desiree, his girlfriend, testified, it was powerful even though I think she lied about some things,� Cardenas said. �When you watch her interview with Det. (Keith) Libby, she knew things she could only know if she heard them from (Reed). Then her testimony about the TV was just as powerful.�
Reed�s public defender, Scott Seeley, said the TV caught him off guard.
�I would have liked to find out about the TV at the start of the trial, not in the middle of the trial,� Seeley said.
�We never got a for sure answer on the serial numbers of the TV, but you have a 37-inch TV stolen and he had one. Everything just fit in.�
Cardenas said she thought Seeley presented the best case he could.
�It just seemed like he was swimming upstream,� Cardenas said. �I think he did the best job he could in lieu of the evidence.�
Reed already had two strikes against him and now faces life without parole. He will now face a hearing Wednesday to prove he is guilty of his two prior strikes. Deputy district attorney Sean Daugherty said court documents from those cases and other evidence will be presented in the hearing.
Daugherty declined to comment further on the trial.
Contact the writer: (760) 256-4126 or [email protected]
Article taken from the Desert Dispatch
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