Two sentenced to life in prison for 2021 shooting death
Two men found guilty in a 2021 shooting death were sentenced to life in prison after one of the defendants was denied a mistrial Wednesday morning in Kern County Superior Court.
David Earlvon Gray, 21, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle. Demitiris Devon King was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and shooting at an occupied vehicle.
On Nov. 3, 2021, Justin Griffin Jr., 21, was shot to death on the 3300 block of Wible Road, according to the Bakersfield Police Department. Officers arrested Gray, King and Christian Francios Gaines for the shooting.
Gaines had a hung jury and it led to a mistrial. Defense attorney Tony Lidgett previously emailed the Californian that 11 of the 12 jurors in Gaines’ last trial concluded he was not guilty. Gaines is scheduled to have another trial at the end of the month.
During Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Charles Brehmer denied King’s request for a new trial based on the potential of a conflict of interest with one of the jurors.
King’s defense attorney, Tim Hennessy of Hennessy Law, asked Brehmer for the contact information for two of the jurors to get their statements. However, Supervising Deputy District Attorney John Allen said he did not think there were sufficient grounds to unseal jurors’ personal information.
Brehmer agreed with Allen and moved forward with the sentencing.
Family members of at least one of the defendants were in court. In addition, Griffin’s family gave statements to the court.
Griffin’s mother, Teri Longmire, said no matter how much time Gray and King serve in prison for killing her son, it “still won’t bring him back.”
Following the sentencing, Brehmer concluded the case with his thoughts on murder cases in Kern County similar to that of Gray and King’s case.
Brehmer said that he sees many cases of “senseless killings.”
“It would be nice if that stopped,” the judge said.