Two men, including one who is already serving life in prison for a triple murder, were convicted Wednesday of killing a pizza delivery driver in Long Beach during an attempted robbery 19 years ago.
James Lemon and Venda Johnson, both 35, were both convicted of first- degree murder for the Nov. 22, 1995, killing of Renato Teniente. Jurors also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder in the commission of an attempted robbery.
They both face life in prison without the possibility of parole when they are sentenced Jan. 20.
The 60-year-old victim had just delivered a pizza to an apartment in the 2600 block of East 55th Way and was attacked when he while sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. The car was parked at a curb and the engine was still running when he was found, prosecutors said.
The case went unsolved until Long Beach police reopened the investigation in 2012, leading to the arrests last year of Lemon and Johnson.
Johnson was serving a life prison sentence at Buena Vista State Prison in Colorado for a triple killing, prosecutors said. Lemon was arrested in Las Vegas.
Lemon and Johnson did not face the death penalty for the Long Beach killing because they were both 17 at the time of the crime.
— City News Service