Dispute among cousins turned deadly. Now, Fresno man gets prison for ‘irreversible’ crime
Johnny Lee Briggs, who was convicted of shooting his cousin after a confrontation at a downtown Fresno park this summer, was sentenced to 50-years-to-life Wednesday.
Police said Briggs, 42, shot Russell Lee Lowe Jr., 49, in the face on June 20 while the two were at the park on Calaveras and Divasadero streets. Nearby, a softball game was going on when a shot rang out.
According to court records, Lowe went to the park at about 8 p.m. He spotted Briggs and “had words” with him. The disagreement escalated quickly.
“Defendant pulled out a firearm and shot victim in the mouth,” according to court records. “Victim was rushed to Community Regional Medical Center where he was treated until he died on July 7.”
A witness told police she saw Briggs shoot Lowe at close range. She also told detectives Lowe was not happy with Briggs, but she did not know what the dispute was about.
During Briggs’s sentencing in Judge Gregory T. Fain’s courtroom, several members of Lowe’s family said they will deeply miss him while also trying hard to forgive Briggs.
Glenda Edmonds, Lowe’s sister, said she and other relatives were struggling to understand why Briggs did what he did.
“We have always been a part of each others lives and I don’t understand what went so wrong to bring us here,” Edmonds said. “We fight at the kitchen table we don’t do this, this is irreversible. I am going to miss my brother and I am going to miss you too.”
Briggs showed little emotion as Edmonds spoke in court. Although she said she’s forgiven him, she also did not want him to forget the man he murdered.
“When you lay down at night, I want (Russell’s) face to be the last one you see,” she said. “And I want it to be the first one you see when you wake up in the morning.”
Recent changes in the state’s sentencing guidelines gave Fain the option to reduce Briggs’s overall sentence by eliminating an enhancement for using a gun to commit murder. But he said the enhancement was appropriate given the circumstances of the case.
“This was a public park and from a close distance you shot an unarmed person in the face,” Fain said. “This is the type of conduct that poses a grave risk to public safety.”
