Killer of 2 Gets Life Without Parole

A Superior Court judge Friday sentenced a former security guard to two terms of life in prison without possibility of parole for murdering two men in front of his Inglewood apartment complex.

In August, a jury convicted Ahmad Grigsby, 29, of two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances in the March 17, 1989, shooting deaths of Terry Goring and Raymond Rodriguez at Grigsby’s apartment building on Firmona Avenue.

During the trial, witnesses testified that Grigsby shot Goring in the chest without provocation and then shot him a second time in the head as Goring pleaded for his life. Witnesses also testified that Grigsby shot the second victim, Rodriguez, in the head as he leaned over to help Goring.

The jurors could have recommended the death penalty for Grigsby, but after testimony that Grigsby is mentally unstable, they decided that he should not die for the shootings.

Grigsby’s attorney, Robert Doddy, sought a new trial on the grounds that the court did not instruct the jury to consider manslaughter charges. Judge Francis Hourigan denied his motion. Doddy said he will appeal Grigsby’s conviction.

In his address to Hourigan, Grigsby apologized, saying: “I can’t turn back what has happened. . . . I’m sorry for this problem that has occurred.”

At this point, Goring’s widow, Elizabeth, 32, asked to address the court. “I have a 3-year-old son who wants to know why his father was hurt and had to go to heaven,” she tearfully said to Grigsby. “And for you to stand there and say you’re sorry, I wish you would go to hell because it’s just not fair.”