Man, 23, Sentenced to Death

An Inglewood gang member was sentenced to death Wednesday after he cursed the mother of his three victims in open court.

Craigen Lewis Armstrong was convicted of fatally shooting three of Brenda Florence’s four sons three years ago. As Florence, also of Inglewood, testified about her grief and pain, Armstrong interrupted her with a loud and profane insult. Calling Armstrong a murderer “willing to kill people for no justification,” L.A. Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders rejected a plea for mercy and ordered Armstrong’s execution.

A jury in August convicted Armstrong, 23, of killing Christopher Florence after mistaking the 21-year-old department store clerk for a rival gang member.

The victim’s two older brothers then tried to investigate the killing. Under the pretense of offering a lead, Armstrong lured Michael and Torry Florence into an ambush three days later, killing both brothers. Armstrong denied killing Christopher Florence and said the brothers were out for revenge, compelling him to act in self-defense.

The jury convicted Armstrong of the special circumstances of multiple murder, murder committed during a drive-by shooting and murder carried out to further the activities of a criminal street gang, and called for the death penalty.

The surviving brother, Brian Florence, 17, was in the courtroom during the sentencing. Pounders denied a motion for a new trial and rejected a defense motion to reduce the jury verdict to life in prison without parole.