Costa Mesa man found legally sane, could face life sentence for murdering ex-girlfriend’s father

A Costa Mesa man was found sane Tuesday and could face life in prison without possibility of parole for murdering his ex-girlfriend’s father and attempting to murder her brother in 2009, resulting in a standoff with Irvine police.

Alwyn Gibson II, 32, was convicted by a jury Nov. 13 of murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. On Tuesday, the jury also found him legally sane.

His sentencing at a Dec. 15 hearing could be influenced by enhancements of murder during the commission of a robbery and personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury.

On Feb. 20, 2009, Gibson entered the Irvine home of his former girlfriend’s family carrying a handgun while they were having dinner, prosecutors said. His ex-girlfriend no longer lived there and was not present.

Gibson placed a large piece of fruit over the barrel of his weapon to muffle the sound of gunshots and demanded money from the family, prosecutors said. He riffled through his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s purse and fired one round into her arm.

According to authorities, Gibson forced the former girlfriend’s father, De Ngoc Le, 60, and his son Michael into an upstairs room, where he ordered them to kneel. He then fatally shot the father in the back of the head and shot Michael Le in the back of the neck, causing him to be hospitalized in serious condition for several days.

Michael’s brother escaped and ran to a neighbor’s house for help, prosecutors said.

An Irvine police SWAT team responded to the house in the 100 block of Rainstar, where Gibson engaged in a standoff with officers for hours. He surrendered early the next morning.

Afterward, Gibson’s father told the Los Angeles Times that his son had moved to California six months earlier to live with his girlfriend of about three years. After the couple split up, Gibson moved to Texas, where he rented a house near his father and started working at a minimum-security prison. He resigned after two months on the job, his father said.

Gibson’s father said his son was admitted to a Southern California hospital for psychiatric evaluation in 2008.

DANIEL LANGHORNE is a contributor to Times Community News.