Judges sentences two men for ‘assassination’-style murder of 29-year-old man in Fresno
Two Fresno men were sentenced Monday to life in prison for the murder of a 29-year-old man in 2020, a killing the judge likened to “an assassination.”
Thyshawn Thompson, 27, and Lenard Luster, 25, were convicted on March 16 of murder and attempted murder for fatally shooting Demarko White, 29 and wounding another man.
During the trial, prosecutor David Olmos introduced video evidence showing Luster picking up Thompson on Sept. 16 near the Fresno County Superior Courthouse and then driving into the Mayfair neighborhood in southeast Fresno.
Court records show Thompson was supposed to be in court that day on a grand theft charge. He previously served six years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.
Fresno County Judge Jonathan B. Conklin said the defendants carefully and methodically drove through the streets of Fresno until they saw White, who was standing along with another man in an open field near Normal and McKinley avenues on Sept. 16.
Conklin described how Luster positioned his car to allow Thompson to get a clear shot of the victims.
Once in place, Thompson pointed his semi-automatic pistol out of the window and fired multiple times, killing White and wounding the second man.
“It was striking the steps these individuals took, one could view this as an assassination of the victim,” Conklin said.
Thompson was sentenced to 10 years plus 100 years to life, Luster received 10 years plus 50 years to life.
The judge denied a request by defense attorneys Alex Martin and Tina Wong to remove a previous sentencing strike for each of them.
Martin said the judge should take into account Thompson’s relatively young age while Wong argued that her client, Luster, had a traumatic childhood and never got the chance to deal with that trauma or the gang influences in his life.
Olmos, a senior deputy district attorney, disagreed with removing the strike. Olmos pointed out that Luster served time for a charge of assault with a deadly weapon and was paroled in April, 2020, five months before he drove Thompson to commit the murder.
“Someone who just got out of prison should not be committing new crimes,” Olmos said.
Conklin rejected the request to remove the strikes., saying he understood Luster had a rough upbringing, but there are also consequences for his actions.
“Mr. Luster’s life can be described as a tragedy,” Conklin said.
“He was born in an institution and if his sentence is unchanged he will die in an institution and that is never an easy to impose. But on the other hand, the other tragic circumstances of Luster’s life have to take a back seat to the tragedy he imposed.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 11:34 AM.
