A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld an Inglewood man’s conviction for fatally stabbing a woman he had briefly dated and killing her dog before setting fire to her Pomona apartment nearly six years ago.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contentions that a judge had wrongly denied Chaumon Tyner his right to act as his own attorney during his trial and that his attorney had provided ineffective assistance.
Tyner, now 55, was convicted of first-degree murder for the March 2019 killing of Ronny Wall, along with one count each of animal cruelty and arson of an inhabited dwelling
The 58-year-old woman and her Yorkshire terrier, Bentley, were found inside the apartment on March 18, 2019, after the building’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire.
The two met through an internet dating site, and had dated for 28 days, according to Deputy District Attorney Phil Stirling.
Wall suffered 11 significant stab wounds.
Authorities believe the two had argued, with telephone records indicating that he remained in the apartment after the killing, according to the prosecutor.
Tyner was arrested nine days later by Pomona police and has remained behind bars since then.
At the defendant’s sentencing in April 2023, the victim’s mother said in a statement read in court on her behalf that she was in “complete shock” when police informed her about her daughter’s death.
“I felt that this was such a horrible loss, and I couldn’t believe it,” she wrote. “My life changed after my daughter’s death. I think about her all the time, I dream about her and miss our conversations. … As far as the defendant who took Ronny’s life, I am angry at what you did and I hope that you rot in prison.”
Tyner had a prior strike from 2003 for robbery, which resulted in his sentence being doubled to 66 years and four months to life.