SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – After more than two decades and three trials, justice finally came for the family of an 18-year-old woman who was killed in a car-to-car shooting.
On Wednesday, almost 23-years after she was gunned down in a fatal car shooting in Encanto, 18-year-old Crystal Nicole Odom, whose ten month old daughter was with her at the time, received justice.
A third suspect in the shooting, 40-year-old Aswad Walker, was found guilty of second degree murder – a crime that a jury decided was also gang-related.
Wednesday’s guilty verdict came after two other trials ended in hung juries. Now, three men have been convicted in the fatal shooting of Odom – a young mother who never got to see her daughter’s first birthday.
Up until 2015, Odom’s murder had remained a cold case. Her daughter Aaliya, who is now in her early twenties, and her parents pushed for resolution.
Their pleas were answered after the arrest of Samuel Sayles and Jamar Philips in July 2015. Months later, Aswad Walker – who was already in prison on a previous conviction – was also connected to the murder.
Authorities said in April 1995, Odom was riding in a car near 65th and Akins with her baby girl and fiancé when a group of people in another car pulled alongside them and someone in that car opened fire – killing Odom.
Samuel Sayles was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last November. Philips, who was 17 years-old at the time, pleaded guilty in juvenile court.
Last year, Samuel Sayles was sentenced to eight years in prison for involuntary manslaughter with a gang allegation.
Because Jamar Phillips pleaded guilty in juvenile court, the details of his punishment have been sealed.