The tragic tale of the murder of a seven-year Major League Baseball outfielder who ended up homeless on the mean streets of Los Angeles may be over after his killer’s legal appeal was rejected.
Rodney Craig, 55, had played in four seasons during the period from 1979 to 1986 for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. But he was living on the streets at the time he was stabbed by another homeless man, Billy Akai Morales.
Craig had set down his belongings on a sidewalk in the area of Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles and decided to go to sleep for the night in August, 2013 when he was confronted by a group of transients who did not want him to stay there, Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Mac told jurors in Morales’ trial.
The group chased Craig after he tried to kick a dog that belonged to a woman in the group, and Morales stabbed Craig after he tripped, the prosecutor told the panel.
Craig died of a stab wound to his heart, according to the prosecutor.
It’s not clear how Craig, who went to Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles, ended up homeless, as he had been a star outfielder and was the first player signed and developed by the Mariners to reach the major league level, according to the Los Angeles Times. The team was founded in 1977.
By 2001, Craig began having problems with law enforcement, and was arrested a number of times in different states, and even served some time in jail. But according to the Times, Craig was “bouncing on and off his medication” and he was legally found mentally incompetent to stand trial in an assault case in New Mexico. He was then institutionalized.
Craig is remembered by baseball card fans for being one of the few players shown on a card with eyes almost closed.
A state appeals court panel Friday upheld Morales’ murder conviction.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s claim that there were errors in the trial of Morales, who was convicted last year of second-degree murder for the Aug. 17, 2013, attack on Craig.
Defense attorney Daniel Tiktin urged the panel to acquit his client of murder, saying that Craig “provoked a violent confrontation” and that Morales made a “split-second decision to defend himself” during a fight.
Morales’ attorney said some of the confrontation was captured by surveillance video cameras in the area.
Morales was sentenced in March 2015 to 16 years to life in state prison.
Anthony Solomon Johnson, who was charged along with Morales, pleaded no contest to assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and was sentenced to six years in state prison.
It wasn’t clear if defense attorneys would try for further appeals.
–Staff and wire reports