Orange County felon faces up to life in prison for stabbing man to death
An Orange County felon who prosecutors called a risk to public safety faces up to life in prison for stabbing a man to death.
Effrum Maland Burnett, 53, of Yorba Linda was sentenced to 46 years to life in prison for murdering Toye Mim Jones, 50, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
On July 18, 2023, Burnett and an unidentified man drove with Christina Roberts, who is an acquaintance of both men, to a sober living home in Anaheim where Jones lived.
They tried to retrieve a 2009 Dodge Ram pickup truck that Roberts claimed was hers.
According to testimony, the woman falsely told Burnett that Jones had raped her and stole her pickup truck, the Orange County Register reports.
In actuality, the truck belonged to someone else and the woman had planned to take it. She reportedly told the false story to Burnett so he would help her retrieve it.
As the group arrived and tried to start the pickup truck, Jones confronted the woman and the situation escalated into a physical confrontation, court documents said. Jones was also upset about the false rape accusations.
Burnett intervened and struck Jones, which prompted him to retreat into the sober living home. However, minutes later, Jones came back outside, walked up to Burnett and hit him in the eye.
The violent confrontation escalated and Burnett stabbed Jones five times — in the face, armpit, groin, abdomen, and chest which punctured his heart, officials said.
Jones was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the judge acknowledged that Burnett had been lied to by the woman involved but also noted Burnett made the choice to use a knife in the deadly altercation.
Jurors had also rejected the argument by Burnett’s attorney that he was acting in self-defense, the O.C. Register reports.
In April 2018, Burnett was facing felony charges for robbery and burglary. He asked an Orange County judge to dismiss his two prior strikes for kidnapping and robbery so he could participate in the “Whatever It Takes” court program. The program aims to help “offenders who have been diagnosed as chronically, persistently mentally ill and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”
Participation in the program was only possible if the court dismissed his prior strikes. Prosecutors at the time objected to the idea, citing his violent criminal history, but the court eventually granted Burnett’s request by dismissing the strikes and admitting him into the program in December 2020.
“We warned the Court that this individual’s serious and violent criminal history posed too great of a risk to public safety, and he should not have been allowed to participate in a program in which his past criminal behavior excluded him from eligibility,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “In some cases, the potential risk to public safety is just too great to take a chance on. This is one of those cases and a man paid the price for it with his life.”
Following Jones’ death, Burnett was convicted and faces anywhere from 46 years to life in prison.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
