Parking dispute takes a deadly turn

Who are these people that would do these things?!?!

Man Convicted Of Murder In Fight Over Parking Place

POSTED: 7:47 am PDT August 8, 2005

TACOMA, Wash. -- A man who fired seven shots in killing a man during a tussle over a parking place has been convicted of second-degree murder.

Franklin-Scott Keawe Dela-Cruz, 28, was convicted Friday after he failed to convince a Pierce County Superior Court jury that he shot and killed Jerry Edward Reyes, 34, in self-defense.

Dela-Cruz faces about 15 to 23 years in prison when he is sentenced following trial in October on a separate assault charge.

Evidence showed Reyes came home drunk on March 15, 2004, and started a fight because two cars were parked in front of his house, at one point pushing or otherwise causing Dela-Cruz's girlfriend, Jessica Larsen, to fall onto a car door.

Dela-Cruz, who fired seven rounds and hit Reyes with four shots, testified that he thought Reyes had a gun and said he was scared because he knew the older man had been convicted of rape, domestic violence and assault.

Dela-Cruz fled after the shooting but was arrested two months later when he was surrounded by police at an apartment in suburban Lakewood. Detectives have said he is under investigation in two unsolved homicides.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.