Murder Conviction Overturned In 2009 Sherman Oaks Shooting Death

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — A state appeals court ordered a judge to overturn a murder conviction for one of two men in the 2009 shooting death of a Sherman Oaks resident while he was on the phone with his mother. The incident, which occurred during an attempted robbery, took the life of 31-year-old Brian Caufield.

Justices from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal said a judge did not have authority to reduce Daryl Sconiers Jr.'s first-degree murder conviction to second-degree murder, because of a recent change in the law. Justices instead told the court to sentence Sconiers Jr. on first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, while noting he may have already served the maximum sentence.

According to prosecutors, Sconiers Jr. and Kenyon Aikens went to Caufield's apartment on March 26, 2009 intending to rob marijuana and any cash he had. At least one of the men posed as an undercover police officer to get into the residence, and later handcuffed all the occupants once inside, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said a struggle occurred at some point in the apartment, which led to Caufield's death.

Sconiers Jr. and Aikens were initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2016. However, Sconiers Jr.'s sentence was later reduced to a potential life prison term, after a state appeals court said he had no reason to think Aikens would shoot the victim.

In its latest ruling, the appellate court agreed with the defense's claim that Sconiers Jr. could no longer be convicted of murder under the recent changes in state law.

At the defendants' sentencing in February 2016, the victim's mother said she heard her son die.

"I heard the three shots that you fired that ended my son's life and all of his dreams. Your voice and those three shots are forever burned into my memory," Kathy Caufield said then.

Sconiers Jr. is the son of former Los Angeles Angels hitter Daryl Sconiers, who played with the team from 1981-1985. The crime was also featured on a segment of the TV show America's Most Wanted.

City News Service contributed to this report.