Convicted Nut Cases killer says he cries in his cell
Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer April 6, 2006
sfgate.com
(04-06) 17:50 PDT OAKLAND -- Repeatedly denying a prosecutor's claims that he didn't care about people he robbed and shot, Oakland gang member Demarcus Ralls said he cries in his jail cell and prays whenever he thinks about his crimes and the four people he killed.
Ralls' remarks came during a second day of testimony today before jurors who will decide whether he should receive the death penalty.
"I cry ... when I'm back there," Ralls said, nodding toward the holding area outside the courtroom. "When I'm by myself. When I pray."
Ralls, 21, has portrayed himself as the victim of a tough life and insisted his lack of adult care as a child contributed to his criminal acts. He is the first of six members of the Nut Cases gang to be tried for five homicides and 20 robberies committed before their arrests in January 2003. The other defendants will be tried later this year.
The same jury that will decide whether Ralls's crimes warrant death found him guilty on March 22 of four murders and more than a dozen robberies and attempted robberies.
Ralls has not been tried in the fifth slaying, of Joseph "Doc" Mabrey, that the Nut Cases are said to have committed because he was a juvenile at the time. But prosecutors have introduced his confession to the crime during the penalty phase of the trial.
According to his confession, Ralls shot Mabrey in the back of the head while getting out of Mabrey's car near Mills College.
During the death penalty phase of Ralls' trial, defense attorneys have tried to show jurors a human side to the convicted killer.
In has testified that he was often beaten by a drug-addicted mother, he grew up in group homes and was teased by classmates because he did not know who his real father was. He also said he and his brothers often ran away from home to escape the beatings.
Ralls flashed a wide smile on the stand Thursday when shown pictures of his two 5-year-old daughters, born 23 days apart to different women.
Ralls said he committed the Mabrey murder -- his first -- at the urging of his older brother, Greg Colbert, and said he was drawn at the urging of friends into committing other criminal acts.
When his attorney asked if there was one thing he could change about his life, Ralls answered: "My upbringing."
But under cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Darryl Stallworth, Ralls admitted that no one forced him to commit the robberies and shootings that terrorized parts of Oakland during a 10-week crime spree.
"You did have a choice, Mr. Ralls, to say "No, I don't want to do this,' " Stallworth said.
"I guess," Ralls replied in a soft voice.
"You didn't say no," Stallworth quickly replied.
Stallworth kept urging Ralls to "tell the truth" about his role in several shootings after Ralls earlier testified he didn't intend to kill people.
Ralls repeatedly said "I don't remember" when asked about the killing of Sunny Thach during a robbery on Jan. 6, 2003. Thach was robbed of $31 and shot in the head as he carried his toddler's laundry from his car to his home on Sixth Avenue near Lake Merritt.
Ralls rubbed his forehead and temples while saying he didn't remember shooting Thach, and didn't know why he also shot at Thach's wife. But Stallworth told Ralls he fired at Thach's wife to make sure there'd be no witnesses to the crime.
"When did it hit you that you were responsible for so much (tragedy)?" Stallworth asked.
"When I was sitting at the (defense) table hearing people. Seeing all the evidence," Ralls replied. |
