A Fresno gang member who has been linked to four killings was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder in one of them.
Charles Deangelo Kendricks, 33, sat silently as a Fresno County Superior Court jury pronounced him guilty of murdering rival gang member Darnell Small, 18, in southeast Fresno in March 2005. He also was found guilty of the attempted murder of Small's fellow gang member, Obrian Dayjohn Matthews.
In addition, jurors found Kendricks guilty of engaging in gang activity, but said he was not guilty of robbing an elderly man in December 2004.
The jury deliberated only a few hours. Kendricks now faces at least 100 years to life in prison, but his punishment could go higher once he is tried on the other murder charges.
Outside court, prosecutor Steve Wright credited Fresno police detective Richard Byrd for finding two witnesses who identified Kendricks as the shooter.
One of the witnesses has known Kendricks since they were children.
In Judge W. Kent Hamlin's courtroom, Wright said Kendricks was a member of the Crips gang; Small and Matthews belonged to the Bloods. He said Kendricks shot the two rivals near Chestnut and Butler avenues because they came onto Kendricks' turf wearing red, the color of the Bloods. The color of the Crips is blue.
Attorney Barbara O'Neill, who represented Kendricks, however, told jurors that her client fired his gun in self-defense.
She said Matthews was armed with a gun, challenged Kendricks to a gunfight, and fired first. A bullet struck Matthews under his right arm, proving that he had his arm extended when he fired his weapon, O'Neill argued.
"They came looking for trouble," O'Neill said.
Initially, Matthews was charged with murder in connection with Small's death because he allegedly provoked Kendricks, resulting in the death of his friend, O'Neill said. But Matthews ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge of being engaged in gang activity, she said.
Police have linked Kendricks to three other slayings -- the death of his 27-year-old wife, Tiffany Carter, who was found dead in her southeast Fresno home in November 2005, and the December 1998 killings of Makeba McCoy and Maurice Golden, also in southeast Fresno.
Police say Golden was a drug dealer and robbery was the motive. McCoy was killed to prevent her from identifying the shooter, police say.
According to court records, Kendricks and Carter were having domestic problems before she was found dead inside her Recreation Avenue home.
Kendricks will have separate trials, starting with the death of his wife. His next hearing is Nov. 24.
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