Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Killer

A jury recommended the death penalty Tuesday for a 21-year-old gang member who forced his way into a Southwest Los Angeles home, hogtied a woman, shot and killed her, and wounded her teenage daughter.

Carlos Hawthorne of Los Angeles is scheduled to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor on Sept. 5.

Hawthorne and another suspect forced their way into Vanessa Sells’ home near Baldwin Hills on Aug. 25, 1996. After they tied up Sells, 46, and her 16-year-old daughter, Hawthorne shot both in the back of the head. The daughter survived the shooting.

“You had two victims who complied completely and were tied up and defenseless,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Wilkinson, who prosecuted the case. “This is such an egregious crime because the defendant shot them anyway. After he shot the daughter, she closed her eyes and played dead.”

The men ransacked the house and then fled in the woman’s Lexus.

The next day, in what police said was a clumsy effort to throw them off his trail, Hawthorne called 911 and reported seeing three men running away from a Lexus. He told them where they could find the car.

An operator kept him on the line long enough to trace the call, and police found him about a mile from the car, with the keys to the Lexus in his hand.

In his pockets they found a bracelet and a silver necklace that matched the description of jewelry stolen from Sells’ home.

“He knew that police were aware of the car being stolen because it was being broadcast on the media,” said homicide Det. Rick Marks.

“Perhaps he was worried that people who knew him saw him driving the car. And he was right . . . someone called and reported seeing him driving the car.”

Hawthorne’s accomplice has not been apprehended.

Hawthorne was convicted on July 25 of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery and residential burglary.