SANTA ANA, Calif.—Two men were sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a robbery and killing of a marijuana dispensary worker near Santa Ana College five years ago.
John Ben Taylor, who turns 41 on Wednesday, and Ryan Jones, 41, were convicted in October of first-degree murder with a special-circumstance allegation of killing during a robbery.
Co-defendant Antonio Lamont Triplett was sentenced in August 2022 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The defendants were convicted of killing 29-year-old Osvaldo Garcia of Santa Ana on Sept. 16, 2019.
Garcia was driving home in his Honda Accord from his job at the TRG marijuana dispensary in South Los Angeles at about 1 a.m. when his car was deliberately struck by a 2019 Nissan Sentra at 17th and Bristol streets, where the vehicle slammed into a curb and “launched” into the air, landing in some hedges at the college, Senior Deputy District Attorney Anna McIntire said in her opening statement of the trial.
“This collision was no accident,” McIntire said. “This was part of a pre-conceived plan. ... The objective was robbery and murder. The motive was greed.”
A “panicky” Garcia called his girlfriend, Carmen Munoz, at the time saying he was being shot at, she said. As Garcia was attempting to crawl out of the passenger side of his car, he was shot, McIntire said.
Triplett and Taylor jumped out of the pursuing car to attack Garcia, the prosecutor said. Surveillance video from the college also shows the suspects rummaging through the vehicle for several minutes, the prosecutor said.
Investigators said phone records show Jones, the driver of the Sentra, was in the area when the shooting happened, McIntire said.
A patrol car was passing the scene of the shooting, but the officer did not see what was happening and kept going. However, the patrol car spooked one of the suspects, who ran off with the victim’s backpack stuffed with cash, McIntire said.
Cell phone evidence was “key” to cracking the case, McIntire said. When Munoz arrived at the crime scene she told investigators that her call with Garcia remained open and that she could track her boyfriend’s phone. That led investigators to 956 Avenida Del Vista in Corona just before 2 a.m.
At 2:38 a.m., the victim’s phone was on the move again, according to the prosecutor. Investigators tracked it from a helicopter as it was mobile in a Dodge Charger that ended up in an industrial complex in Carson, McIntire said.
Jones, his girlfriend Miah Mendoza, and Taylor met with Chantress Allen, Taylor’s girlfriend, the prosecutor said. They moved some items from the Charger to a GMC Yukon, the prosecutor said.
Taylor got behind the wheel of the Yukon and drove off, McIntire said. Jones and Mendoza got back in their car and left, she added.
The collision damage to the Sentra was consistent with the crash with the victim’s car, McIntire said. Jones’ DNA was on the steering wheel.
At 3:43 a.m., the victim’s phone was tracked to 2025 Lemon St. in Long Beach, where investigators waited on the Yukon until they saw two men moving items from the Yukon to a Kia Sorento that Triplett and Taylor were using, McIntire said.
Taylor’s DNA was on the victim’s phone, McIntire said.
When officers stopped Mendoza and Taylor she said she used to work at the marijuana dispensary and knew Garcia, McIntire said. Evidence on Jones’ phone showed he had used a traffic application to get directions to the dispensary.
“Each of these defendants had a role in this brazen robbery and murder,” McIntire said.
Jones’ attorney, Kelly Rozek of the Associate Defender’s Office, told jurors that her client was an “entrepreneur” who sold clothes in the South Bay. He had dinner with his girlfriend in Long Beach the evening of the killing and the two went to a place in town where his T-shirts were made to enjoy a pop-up event, according to the attorney.
Mendoza and Jones went their separate ways at some point and she got a call from him at about 1 a.m. saying he needed her to pick him up, Rozek said.
She also received a “weird call from Mr. Taylor’s wife to meet her to move boxes,” Rozek said. When she arrived she sensed some “tension,” Rozek added.
It was not unusual that Jones’ DNA was on the steering wheel of the car they were using as he would also drive it, Rozek said.
One witness who worked at a McDonald’s near the shooting gave police a description that did not match Jones, Rozek said. The witness said the suspect had short hair while Jones had long dreadlocks, for instance, she added.
Minutes after the killing, Taylor and his wife were texting Jones to call and saying it was an emergency, Rozek said.
The defense attorney said Jones’ cell phone pinged to a cell tower 11 miles from the crime scene while Triplett’s and Taylor’s phones were together, Rozek said.
Taylor’s attorney Cameron Talley argued that his client went along for the ride to buy some marijuana and was not aware of any attempt to kill the victim.
