Convicted killer’s fate in jurors’ hands

The fate of a Long Beach gang member who helped kill a Newport Beach couple in 2004 is now in the hands of 12 Orange County jurors.

The jury of six men and six women began deliberating at 3 p.m. Thursday whether John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 43, should be sentenced to death for helping kill Newport Beach retirees Tom and Jackie Hawks in 2004 or spend life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

Kennedy was convicted last week for his part in an elaborate kill-for-profit scheme hatched by Skylar Deleon and his then-wife, Jennifer Henderson. A third man, Alonso Machain, has admitted his role in the plot and will likely cut a deal with prosecutors for testifying in their trials as well as Kennedy’s.

Deleon faces a possible death sentence in March. Henderson was sentenced to life without parole in 2007.

Kennedy, who police say is a Long Beach Insane Crips gang member, acted as the muscle for Deleon and Machain as they aimed to subdue the Hawkses aboard their boat so they could rob them. Kennedy maintained control of Tom Hawks, a retired probation officer and incredibly fit man, when Deleon forced Tom and his wife to sign over legal control to all their financial holdings.

Machain testified that Kennedy helped tie the couple, already bound together, to an anchor and pushed them overboard alive to drown in frigid, nighttime ocean waters.

Defense attorneys pointed to Kennedy’s contributions to Long Beach in the years leading up to his arrest.

More than half a dozen people took the stand and testified Kennedy was known for his smile and bringing gang members and at-risk youth into a North Long Beach church to steer them in the right direction.

Kennedy also sang at convalescent homes and fed the needy, Kennedy’s friends and family testified.

Kennedy’s attorneys argue he could very well take the same positive approach in prison, if only the jury would give him a chance.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy argued no amount of churchgoing can outweigh the slayings he helped commit Nov. 15, 2004, or the pain it caused to the Hawks family afterward.

The jury will continue deliberations today.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.