On a summer day in Southern California, Patrick Barnett, a 30-year-old man, was simply going about his business. On August 28, 1996, he walked into a check-cashing store in the city of Lakewood, a customer running an everyday errand. Tragically, he was in the wrong place at the very worst time. His life was cut short that day, not in a personal dispute or a tragic accident, but in a moment of brutal, random violence that placed him in the path of one of the region's most ruthless serial
killers.
Patrick’s death was part of a bloody, year-long crime spree orchestrated by Bruce Millsap, a high-ranking member of a Carson-area Crips gang who was known on the street as “Loco.” Between 1995 and 1996, Millsap and his accomplices terrorized communities across Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties, committing a series of violent robberies that left a trail of bodies. Their primary targets were often armored cars, and they showed a chilling disregard for human life, frequently shooting their victims without giving them a chance to surrender.
The wave of violence began in the fall of 1995 and continued relentlessly. Victims included armored car guards Fernando Herrera in Long Beach and James Moon in Carson, who were gunned down during robberies. Ramone McKissick was another early victim. In January 1996, Millsap murdered Manuel Garibay, who was a witness in a legal case against him. The violence peaked in the summer and fall of 1996. In August alone, Millsap was responsible for the deaths of three people: Francisco Parocua, Carlos Nuno, and Patrick Barnett, who was killed during the Lakewood robbery. The final victim was Lamont Smith, another armored car guard, killed outside a Walmart in November 1996.
The multi-jurisdictional investigation into the string of savage holdups and murders eventually led authorities to Millsap and his crew. The sheer brutality of the crimes, characterized by a willingness to execute victims for money, spurred a massive law enforcement effort. The capture of Millsap and his main accomplice, Kendrick Loot, brought an end to their reign of terror. A third accomplice, Richard Colston, agreed to testify against the others, while a fourth, Emanuel Brown, died by suicide in jail before he could stand trial.
The subsequent legal proceedings revealed the cold and calculated nature of the killers. The prosecution painted a picture of "super predators" who were completely devoid of compassion. Deputy District Attorney Anthony Myers, who prosecuted the case, stated, “These are super predators, whose actions were completely bereft of any understanding or compassion for human life.” The evidence presented was overwhelming, and in January 2000, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Bruce Millsap guilty on 23 felony counts, including eight counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, attempted murder, and robbery.
In February 2000, a judge handed down the sentence that matched the gravity of Millsap’s crimes. For the eight lives he took, including Patrick Barnett's, Bruce Millsap received eight separate death sentences, in addition to a term of 200 years in prison. His accomplice, Kendrick Loot, who was directly involved in three of the murders, also received a death sentence and two life sentences. During the trial, it was alleged that Millsap had even plotted to have two of the prosecutors and two witnesses killed.
Today, Bruce Millsap remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison. The legal system delivered the strongest possible conviction, ensuring he would never again harm an innocent person. Yet for the families of his eight victims, including the loved ones of Patrick Barnett, the verdict could not undo the profound and senseless loss they suffered. Patrick Barnett was not an armored car guard or a witness; he was just a customer, a man whose life was stolen in a violent instant, remembered as one of the many victims of a killer’s merciless rampage.
