Judge Gives Shackled Killer Life Sentence

Shackled and wearing a mesh spit guard around his head, Kirell Taylor was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole for robbing, kidnapping and killing a Woodland Hills businessman.

Courtroom security was intense, with 15 armed sheriff’s deputies present, and the front two rows of spectator seats were cordoned off by yellow police tape. One deputy stood in front of Taylor and videotaped his every move as evidence in case he alleges excessive force.

The last time the 26-year-old Pacoima man was in the courtroom, deputies had to drag him out as he kicked and cursed. He also spat at the prosecutor.

That was Oct. 1, when a jury convicted Taylor of the first-degree murder of 30-year-old Christopher Rawlings, who was kidnapped from his home in the trunk of his white Bentley.

For most of Wednesday’s hearing, Taylor, who represented himself, remained subdued. At one point, he made an obscene gesture toward Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels, and he yelled later as deputies escorted him from the courtroom.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff gave Taylor the maximum penalty, as Rawlings’ widow, mother and other relatives and friends watched.

In a handwritten letter to Hoff, the victim’s mother, Suzanne Rawlings, wrote, “My prayer is that this evil person cannot ever cause any other person harm. . . . I will pray that he will not ever be free again.”

Jurors in Van Nuys deliberated five hours before convicting Taylor.

On the evening of Feb. 8, 1999, two masked men forced Rawlings into his trunk and drove off. During a high-speed police chase, the car crashed, ejecting Rawlings. His head hit a brick wall, and he died two days later.

The prosecution presented eyewitnesses and matched Taylor’s DNA to saliva on a black ski mask found at the crime scene. In Taylor’s bedroom, they found Cartier jewelry like that stolen from Rawlings’ wife.

Taylor has maintained his innocence, saying he was framed by police and had an alibi.

Before being sentenced, Taylor said he was not “some kind of diabolical individual.” He then read a rambling rap that ran through dozens of seemingly unrelated themes, ranging from Pakistan and El Nino to world peace and “experimenting on monkey brains in a jar.”

A few minutes later, he looked back at his mother, Janice Taylor, who mouthed to him, “I love you.”

On the day the jury found her son guilty, Janice Taylor also was forcibly removed from the courtroom after she began shouting about the injustice of her son’s conviction.

The defendant said he planned to appeal the verdict and asked the judge to appoint lawyers “as soon as possible so I can go home.”

When Wednesday’s hearing ended, Samuels left the counsel table and moved near the door behind the judge. She said she wanted to avoid further upsetting Taylor.

“He seems to be provoked by my presence,” she said.

Taylor’s alleged crime partner, Boris “Booney” Graham, 31, of Pacoima, remains at large. Authorities suspect he is living abroad.

“We are not giving up because he has left the country,” Samuels said. “In my experience, he will get caught, and we will try the case.”