Three men convicted of murdering a security guard at an unlicensed Spring Valley dispensary have been sentenced to potential life terms. Daveon Hicks, 36, Curry Williams, 35, and Jamal Johnson, 46, were found guilty in the June 2020 killing of 59-year-old Kenneth Love II, who was working security at the illegal marijuana shop when he was shot and killed.
Love was shot and killed on June 2, 2020, at an illegal dispensary in the 8700 block of Troy Street, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, Hicks, Williams and Johnson were convicted for the June 2020 killing of Kenneth Love II and were sentenced to potential life terms.
The sentences handed down carry potential life terms for the three men.
Prosecutors Tied the Killing to a Dispensary Extortion Scheme
When charges were first announced in 2021, prosecutors said the killing was not an isolated act of violence but part of a broader scheme to extort money from illegal dispensaries, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Investigators alleged that when extortion money was not paid, the defendants used threats and violence to intimidate dispensary ownership, the office said in its release at the time.
The District Attorney’s Office also linked the alleged crime spree to other Spring Valley-area shootings in July and November 2019, well before Love was killed. In July 2021, Hicks, Williams and Johnson were all charged with murder, conspiracy to commit extortion and other offenses connected to that broader pattern of shootings, according to the same release.
A Guard Doing His Job at an Illegal Shop
Love was working as a security guard at the time he was shot, a role that put him squarely in the middle of the dispute prosecutors say the defendants were orchestrating against unlicensed pot shops in the area. The dispensary where he died, on Troy Street, was itself operating illegally, according to the District Attorney’s Office account of the case.
The gap between the 2021 charges and this week's sentencing spans more than five years. The three men received potential life terms.
