A man convicted of shooting and wounding a Hawthorne police officer who was responding to a call of shots being fired in the parking lot of a hotel was sentenced Monday to just over 59 years to life in state prison.
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James Louis Boyd III, now 42, was found guilty just over a year ago of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and one count of shooting at an occupied Hawthorne Police Department vehicle.
The charges stemmed from an April 7, 2019, shooting that left both Hawthorne police Officer Jose Gomez and Boyd wounded.
"As I reflect on that day, I am thankful I can stand here on both legs before the man who attempted to kill me," Gomez said during Boyd's sentencing in a Torrance courtroom. "With the type of weapon and round Mr. Boyd used, I could have been crippled or he could have ended my life ... Mr. Boyd made the conscious choice to pick up a rifle and endanger the public, run from police and try to kill me and my partners. For the past five years, he has stretched out this day to the best of his ability and has never shown any remorse to anyone impacted by his actions that day."
The officer said he made it his "mission to come back to work and not have Mr. Boyd be the reason why my career ended."
Jurors deadlocked on two other counts against Boyd -- attempted murder of a peace officer and an additional count of shooting at an occupied vehicle. Those were dismissed as a result of his sentence, according to Deputy District Attorney Geoff Lewin.
In a 2021 report, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office found that Gomez and fellow Officer Jesus Ceniceros "acted lawfully and in self-defense, the defense of others, and in pursuit of a fleeing felon" when they fired at Boyd.
Officers were called to the Marriott Towne Place Suites in response to a 911 call involving a confrontation between Boyd and his girlfriend, in which Boyd drew a firearm and fired two rounds into the air after she locked her car's doors, according to the report from the District Attorney's Office.
Gomez subsequently spotted the defendant walking northbound on Aviation Boulevard, but Boyd ignored his commands to stop and pull his right hand from his waistband area, according to the report.
Gomez told investigators that Boyd began pulling a large firearm out from under his shirt and that he responded by firing at Boyd while seated in his patrol vehicle, with Boyd being struck on the left side of his back and then running from officers, according to the report.
Boyd then took cover behind a pillar and fired one round -- and likely additional rounds -- at Gomez as he took cover behind another pillar, with one round that was fired by Boyd striking the rear driver's side door of Gomez's patrol vehicle and shattering the window, according to the report.
Officers continued to chase Boyd, with Gomez firing nine more rounds at Boyd, who fired one round in return that struck Gomez's left thigh, according to the report.
Boyd subsequently jumped over a wall, entered a parking structure and surrendered soon afterward to police by lying face-down on the ground with his hands and feet spread out, according to the report.
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