People v. Thompson CA2/2

FACTS

Prosecution Case Events Leading to Murder In January 2012, Laverne Alvarez (Nicki) lived in an apartment on the ground floor of an apartment building in the City of Torrance, along with her two-year-old daughter R. (the victim in count 7) and her three other children. Larry (the victim in count 6) is R.’s father. Although Nicki had a restraining order against Larry for domestic violence, he regularly violated it to spend time with the children. Le Porsche Brumfield (Le Porsche) lived in the apartment directly above Nicki’s apartment. She and Nicki

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated. 2 We refer to the victims and witnesses by their first names, purely for ease of reference.

2 were friendly. Larry’s mother lived in an upstairs apartment across the hall from Le Porsche. On the night of January 23, 2012, Larry was at Nicki’s apartment taking care of the children while she was at work. He went to the laundry room outside the back door of the apartment to wash clothes. R. was standing in the doorway of the laundry room. Appellant appeared with Le Porsche. Appellant walked up to Larry, “got in [his] face” and twice said, “Tragniew…