Jury Convicts Third Man in Slaying of 4

Darren Charles Williams was found guilty Thursday of four counts of first-degree murder in the 1984 execution-style slayings of the mother, sister and two nephews of former pro football player Kermit Alexander.

The 26-year-old Los Angeles man, a reputed gang member, was the third and final defendant to be found guilty of the mistaken-identity shootings of Ebora Alexander, 58; her daughter, Dietra, 24, and grandsons Damani Garner, 13, and Damon Bonner, 8.

Triggerman Tiequon Aundray Cox, 20, was sentenced to death last May, and Horace Burns, 21, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Death Penalty Deliberations

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dion G. Morrow ordered the jury, which returned its verdicts after three days of deliberations, to return Monday for further deliberations on whether Williams qualifies for the death penalty.

If the jury rejects such special circumstances, Williams will face 25 years to life in prison on each count. But if Williams is deemed guilty of special circumstances, the jury will then decide on one of two options--death or life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors have contended that the four victims were shot to death in Ebora Alexander’s South-Central Los Angeles home by gunmen who mistakenly entered, having been hired for $60,000 to kill a woman who lived two doors away.

Taped Interview Played

In a taped police interview played during the trial, Williams acknowledged being at the scene of the crime but denied any involvement in the shootings, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris said. Norris presented 15 witnesses during the three-week trial, including two women who testified that they drove Williams, Cox and Burns to the Alexander house.

Defense attorneys countered that their client had not understood what he was saying on the tape. The lawyers presented three witnesses who said Williams was actually somewhere else at the time of the shootings.

Williams was arrested in March, 1985, at his father’s home in the Bay Area city of Richmond.

Times staff writer Terry Pristin contributed to this article