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Man convicted of first-degree murder for killing ex-girlfriend during custody exchange at Hawthorne police station – Daily Breeze

A 36-year-old Hawthorne man was convicted by a jury of murder on Tuesday, Oct. 29, for shooting his ex-girlfriend during a custody exchange near the front door of Hawthorne Police Headquarters more than five years ago. authorities said.

After a week-long trial, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury at the Airport Courthouse took less than three hours before finding Jacob Ryan Munn guilty of first-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm for the April 7, 2019, fatal shooting of Brenda Renteria, 28, of Simi Valley, according to a court clerk.

They also believed the allegation of ambushing was true because of special circumstances, said Zara Lockshin of the prosecutor's office.

Munn was scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18.

During closing arguments in the trial on Monday, prosecutor Karen Montoya told jurors that Munn arrived 40 minutes before the scheduled custody exchange at 6 p.m. so he could “scout the crime scene.” Montoya pleaded first-degree murder and told jurors that that day, Munn took a shotgun that he usually kept under his bed to the station, backed his truck into a parking space and left the driver's door unlocked to make his escape more quickly .

She said Munn waited at his truck for Renteria to arrive, then ambushed her and shot her in front of her child, mother and sister.

Before the shooting, Munn had dropped off the former couple's then 17-month-old son at the police station. The boy was not injured.

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A shotgun blast left holes in the side of the Hawthorne Police Department headquarters on April 8, 2019, less than a day after investigators said a man gave up his child in a custody swap and killed the child's mother. (Josh Cain/SCNG Staff)

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Munn's public defender, Kimberly Greene, argued for involuntary manslaughter, saying Munn acted rashly and was provoked by Renteria before the shooting. She also argued that Munn was becoming increasingly stressed and worried because of a tense custody battle over her son.

Evidence presented during the trial showed Munn fired one shot and missed, pointed the Mossberg shotgun at the back of Renteria's head and fired a second time, then struck the gun at her body before running toward his truck and driving away.

An officer at the station heard the shots, rushed outside and fired at least one shot at Munn, who fled in the truck. However, Munn was not hit, police said at the time.

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