Cypress man gets 144 years to life for fatal shooting in Long Beach of 12-year-old boy

A 24-year-old Cypress man who went out in search of rival gang members to shoot in Long Beach but ended up shooting at three children — killing one and injuring another — was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 7, to 144 years to life in state prison.

Reshawn Jonae Strother received the sentence after apologizing to the victims and their families in Long Beach Superior Court.

Strother, his then-girlfriend Destenee Scipio and two other men went out the night of May 9, 2023, looking for rival gang members but wound up shooting at three children as they walked near Lewis Avenue and Hill Street.

Killed in the shooting was 12-year-old Eric Gregory Brown III. A then-14-year-old girl was shot in the leg but survived. A 13-year-old girl escaped the gunfire.

The children were not gang members, police have said.

On Wednesday, one of the girls spoke in court while the other had a statement read by Deputy District Attorney David Kwon. They remembered Eric, who they referred to as “Big E,” as a funny, joyful boy who always knew how to make them laugh even when they were going through hard times. They said he had his whole life ahead of him.

They lamented being forced to talk about Eric in the past tense. They also talked about the difficulty of facing Strother in court while testifying on the witness stand.

“I didn’t testify to ruin the defendant’s life,” the girl who was unscathed told the court. “I testified to get Eric justice.

“It makes me so sick that even though he took a child’s life, he showed no remorse,” she said, adding that she still has sleepless nights because of what she saw.

The injured girl loved to play basketball but that was taken away after she was shot in the leg, she wrote in her statement.

“It changed the way I see the world,” she said, adding that the pain in her leg is a “reminder of something we never wished to experience.”

Eric’s grandmother, Sonia Age, also spoke and said she hoped that Strother would “always see (Eric’s) smile, and I hope you find God.”

Scipio, who testified against Strother and took a plea deal to voluntary manslaughter, apologized to the victims and their families in a statement to the court.

“I’m so sorry for the role I played and the action I didn’t take,” Scipio wrote, adding she was sorry for “not protecting your children” and that she “should have been a stronger person instead of a coward.

“I am sick to my stomach with shame,” she said.

Scipio was sentenced on Sept. 30 to six years in prison as a result of the plea deal. She and Strother have been in custody since their arrests two months after the shooting.

Strother had sought retaliation after he was shot at while driving Scipio’s car earlier that day near Orange Avenue and Hellman Street, evidence presented during the case showed. Strother was not hit, but a bullet grazed the car.

Scipio had attempted to keep Strother from using her car to carry out his plan.

Surveillance video from a hotel they stayed at shows Strother slam Scipio onto the car and choke her for several seconds before letting her go. They both then got in the car and left, picking up two other men in Downey and Carson before the shooting.

Those men were not involved in the case against Strother and Scipio. It was unclear if they were identified or arrested.

In September, a jury convicted Strother of murder, three counts of attempted murder, assault by means of force, conspiracy to commit murder, and unlawful firearm activity.

Two of the charges stemmed from a shooting in Los Angeles when Strother injured two people, including Scipio, at a recording studio. The other victim in that shooting was left paralyzed.

Judge Laura Laesecke on Wednesday referenced evidence that showed the men in the car had intimidated other people with their guns before firing upon the children.

She said the case involved “a lot of violence, very scary.” She referenced the egregiousness of the crimes and the planning that went into the shooting of the children, including the turning off of cellphones and leaving them elsewhere so they couldn’t be tracked.

The judge imposed the harshest penalties on all but one count.

Before the sentencing, Strother was given a chance to speak. He turned toward the victims and their families and apologized, said he wanted to ask for their forgiveness and said he had no excuses.

Strother said he did not know he had killed a child until he turned his phone back on and learned about it through Google. He said Eric’s death was a result of his “compulsive decisions, compulsive behavior.”

He said he sees Eric’s face every night.

At the time of the shooting, he had a three-year-old son and Scipio was pregnant with his other son.

“I will pay my debt to you and society for hurting children,” Strother said. “That wasn’t called for. They were children.”