Northside Gateway Posse Crips committed the robbery because their gang idolized that type of behavior.

Jamar Thomas, 21, should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole for the June 9, 2007, attack on Bower Security Co. guard Wallace Brown near Rosa Parks Road and El Dorado Boulevard.The same jury convicted Thomas of charges of first-degree murder, robbery and participating in a criminal street gang. The six-man, six-woman panel also found true special circumstance allegations of committing a murder for the benefit of a gang and murder in the commission of a robbery.Also charged in Brown's death and awaiting trial are alleged Northside Gateway Posse Crips gang members Darius Lee, 21; Jerrett Lewis, 20; and Akil Williams, 19.Deputy District Attorney Manny Bustamante said the defendants dragged Brown from his van before beating him at a construction site in the northern end of Palm Springs.In a video aired in court, Thomas admitted trying to help a co-defendant get the security guard out of the van, but he denied beating Brown.“The defendant literally opened the door to Mr. Brown's demise,” Bustamante said.The prosecutor has said the defendants committed the robbery because their gang idolized that type of behavior.Thomas joined the Palm Springs gang when he was 10 years old but claims he was not a member at the time of Brown's death, according to defense attorney John Hemmer. Lewis testified last week to take the blame for the attack, but he said he couldn't remember most of the night's events because he was drunk and had taken marijuana and PCP.