After seven hours of deliberations, a jury Wednesday, June 1 convicted a man of first-degree murder in the slaying of Ghedeer “Tony” Radda, the owner of the Bottom Price Flooring store in Downtown San Diego.
The jury also found the special circumstance true that Kevin Eugene Cartwright, 55, killed Radda, 49, during a robbery of the store and burglary. He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Cartwright was also found guilty of robbery of the Adult Depot store, at 3487 Kurtz St., in Point Loma, which occurred the night before the homicide on Oct. 10, 2018.
Cartwright is facing a life term in prison without the possibily of parole as a result of the special circumstance verdicts. He may receive three years consecutively for the hold-up of the adult book store.
The trial progressed much faster than expected when it first started. During jury selection on May 19, people were told it would likely end in mid-June. The prosecution rested last week and the defense did not have many witnesses.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide instructed the 10 men and five women, which included the three alternates on the jury panel, not to consider anything about Cartwright not testifying.
Eyherabide set sentencing for June 29. Cartwright remains in jail without bail.
Final arguments were presented Tuesday and jurors began deliberations. They reached verdicts on Wednesday, June 1 after seven hours of discussions over two days.
The family of Radda attended the trial daily. He had operated the Bottom Flooring Supply business for 16 years and had two daughters.
Attorney Jeremy Thornton, who represented Cartwright, told jurors in his opening statement that Cartwright did not kill Radda and he did not rob the adult book store.
Thornton told jurors the prosecution’s case consisted of opinions and not facts. He said Lorena Espinoza, 38, who was shown on videotape distracting Radda, was seen in the store several weeks earlier with other men.
Thornton did present testimony of a criminalist who did DNA analysis who said Cartwright’s DNA was not found on a mask that had been recovered by police.
However, the “old lady” mask that was seen by the intruder on the security videotape was never recovered. Jurors watched the silent videotape intently during the trial as it was played several times.
It showed Espinoza, wearing a blue wig, walking around and talking to Radda at the back of the store, and the man in the “old lady” mask creeping around and suddenly surprising Radda.
The shooting was off camera. The intruder pushed Radda to the back of the store quickly and Radda was shot three times including once to the heart.
Cartwright spent at least four minutes trying to forcibly get into the cash register with a crowbar, according to the video. He spilled coins all over the floor and sometimes money. Espinoza began picking up the money.
They hurriedly left the store only to return when Cartwright realized he left his truck keys inside the store and went back to retrieve them, said Deputy District Attorney Matthew Greco.
Espinoza pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and she was sentenced on Jan. 21 to 16 years to life in prison. She told police Cartwright later gave her $150 for her participation in the incident.
The murder weapon was not recovered. However, a gun that belonged to Radda was found by police in Cartwright’s possession which had been stolen at the business. Also found in Cartwright’s possession was ammunition that matched the type used in Radda’s shooting, said Greco.
Greco showed the jury the street camera surveillance tapes where Cartwright left the business still wearing the “old lady” mask. He walked for about seven blocks with the mask, until taking it off, with cameras in street lights taking his picture.
