Moreno Valley

Pasadena Man Gets 77 Years in Prison for Shooting Sister

A Pasadena man convicted of fatally shooting his sister and wounding her teenage son in San Gabriel was sentenced Thursday to 77 years to life in state prison.

Johnny Goins, 32, was convicted Feb. 23 of one count each of first-degree murder and attempted murder and two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

Goins armed himself with a revolver and went to his sister's apartment in San Gabriel in the early morning hours of March 5, 2015, then fired multiple times through a window and a door, according to Deputy District Attorney Presciliano Duran.

Goins' sister, Tanaya, 32, was struck in the head and upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene, the prosecutor said. Her son was also struck by the gunfire, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

Goins, who was arrested later that night at a Moreno Valley mall, was angry with his sister at the time of the crime, the prosecutor said.

According to evidence presented at Goins' trial, his girlfriend claimed he had tried to suffocate her and wrote a series of text messages to his sister, saying that Goins had told her that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder because he had experienced violence as a child.

Tanaya Goins told her brother's girlfriend that he had not suffered child abuse and that he should not be assaulting women, according to the prosecutor.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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