A judge Thursday rejected a bid for a new trial from an ex-con who was found guilty of murdering a security guard outside a private student housing complex near USC.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta ruled there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict against Alexander Crawford, now 34.
Jurors deliberated just over two hours before convicting Crawford in May of first-degree murder for the late-night shooting of Jave Garanganao on Dec. 27, 2022.
The downtown Los Angeles jury also found true gun allegations against Crawford.
The defendant — who is now acting as his own attorney — is facing 53 years to life in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec. Sentencing is set for Jan. 8 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
Authorities said the security guard had asked Crawford earlier to leave the Lorenzo apartment complex in the 300 block of West Adams Boulevard, about a half-mile from the main USC campus.
“We know this was an intentional shooting merely by the fact that he fired 10 rounds,” the prosecutor told jurors during his closing argument. “I’m telling you this was a premeditated killing that he carried out.”
Citing surveillance video of the shooting, the prosecutor argued that it appeared that Crawford was “angry and upset” and was the “only person acting aggressively” after being told to leave the property.
“Jave was no threat to him that night,” the deputy district attorney told jurors, noting that the guard was unarmed and that Crawford fled the scene after the shooting.
Defense attorney Evan Langinger countered, “What this case is is a tragedy. … What this case isn’t is murder. This is voluntary manslaughter.”
Crawford’s lawyer told the jury that his client had been waiting for a train and was trying to figure out his next move on a stormy night without any protective rain gear, adding that jurors had heard Crawford’s testimony that he thought the guard had pulled a gun on him when he saw him reach down and retrieve an object that wound up being a walkie talkie.
The defense attorney told jurors to hold his client “accountable” for the crime he committed, while arguing that it was the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.
“Understand that in that moment he actually believed he needed to use that force,” Langinger said of his client, who testified in his own defense.
Garanganao, 41, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to records from the county medical examiner’s office.
Los Angeles police said officers responded to a radio call of a gunshot victim down at around 12:30 a.m. the next day, and found the suspect — subsequently identified as Crawford — sleeping in a parking area near the lobby area of the building.
“Detectives were able to review video and determined that the person detained was the suspect in this incident,” police said in a statement announcing Crawford’s arrest. “Los Angeles Police Department Central Bureau Homicide detectives determined that Crawford was in possession of a handgun matching the handgun caliber used in the murder, was wearing clothing closely resembling the suspect’s clothing at the time of the incident and matched the suspect description in race, sex and physical description.”
He has remained behind bars since his arrest.
Crawford — who had a prior conviction from Oklahoma for burglary in 2010 — pleaded no contest to a separate count of possession of a firearm by a felon.