Jurors on Wednesday convicted a 35-year-old man of murder for a shooting at a Long Beach liquor store that left two men dead and two bystanders wounded more than five years ago.
Authorities said Morris Om shot and killed 22-year-old Dallas Som and 21-year-old Danny Bunthung the night of Oct. 10, 2017, during a fight at S & L Liquor and Market on the corner of Anaheim Street and Walnut Avenue.
Jurors deliberated for nearly three days before reaching a verdict and finding Om guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said.
Om was also found guilty of felony evasion; felony possession of a firearm; misdemeanor child abuse, a charge that comes as a result of Om having a child in the car when he crashed while evading police; and allegations that he used a firearm in the commission of a crime, prosecutors said.
Om, who was 30 at the time of the killings, will be sentenced on April 14.
During a trial that lasted more than a week, prosecutors revealed details about the moments that led up to the fatal shooting.
According to Deputy District Attorney John Chang, Om, along with fellow gang member Savanna Sok, entered the liquor store at the same time as Som and Bunthung, who may have been associated with a rival gang.
Om and Sok then walked over to Som and Bunthung and a fistfight ensued, Chang said.
At one point, Om was pushed out of the store during the fight, but when he returned, he took a gun out from his waistband and fired multiple rounds into the victims from extremely close range, Chang said, adding that two bystanders were also wounded as a result of Om’s actions.
“What started off as a basic fistfight quickly escalated to an execution,” Chang said in an email to the Post.
Om and Sok fled the scene following the shooting, however, the gun used in the shooting was discovered after officers served a search warrant at a house in the 5900 block of Walnut Avenue.
Om’s attorney Michael Balmer never disputed that his client was responsible for shooting Som and Bunthung. Instead, he argued that the double-killing was justified because Om was saving Sok’s life, according to the Press-Telegram.
The newspaper reported that Balmer added that the reason Om fired from such a close range was because he was near-sighted without his glasses and needed to make sure he wasn’t shooting his friend.
Om has remained jailed without bail ever since his arrest in connection to the shooting on Oct. 26, 2017.
Meanwhile, Sok and eight others were also taken into custody in connection with the shooting, but have since pleaded no contest to their charges.
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