Fiancee of Slain Deputy Recounts Salon Takeover Robbery

SANTA ANA —  The fiancee of a slain Los Angeles deputy sheriff took the stand Monday, recounting how robbers entered a beauty salon and shot her husband-to-be while the couple were there for a haircut.

Jennifer Parish was the first witness to testify against Kevin Boyce, 28, accused of firing the shot that killed Shayne York on Aug. 14, 1997. Boyce faces 11 counts of murder, robbery and special circumstance enhancements, including intentionally killing a peace officer. If he is found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

An alleged accomplice, Andre Willis, 32, will be tried separately on identical charges.

Parish cried when she testified that she and York were preparing to leave for Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday. She was 24 and York was 26.

Parish testified that about 8 p.m., Boyce and Willis stormed into the Buena Park hair salon where Parish’s sister Amy was giving York a haircut. They were forced to lie on the floor. York was tall and space was cramped, she said, and his head rested on top of her legs.

During the ordeal, Parish testified, she heard two assailants kicking York, using racial epithets, then calling him “pig” when they discovered his badge.

She heard a shot and felt blood from York’s head running on her legs, Parish said.

She testified she heard one of the gunman say, “ ‘I always wanted to kill a . . . pig.’ ”

They found her badge too, but did not try to kill her. “ ‘Don’t worry, we don’t kill women,’ ” she said one of the assailants told her. In opening statements, Brent said Boyce and Willis, who are black, stormed into De’ Cut beauty salon in Buena Park shouting racial slurs and demanding money. “The evidence will establish that Boyce is a murderer, a racist and a bigot,” said Brent. “He is a murderer because he shot and killed a man, a racist because he doesn’t like white people, and a bigot because he doesn’t like police officers.”

Lawyers on both sides said Boyce and Willis left to commit another robbery that night at a Yorba Linda pizza parlor. Two people were injured. Boyce and Willis were arrested shortly after by Fullerton police who saw the Ford Mustang they were driving.