Trials
Hochman took death off the Reiner case. That is a charging choice, not a verdict.
As of Sept. 17, the death penalty is off the table in Reiner's case, first-degree murder with special circumstances is still pending, and the not-guilty pleas stand.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
Taking the death penalty off the table changes the exposure. It does not decide guilt. On Sept. 15, 2026, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office will not seek capital punishment against Nick Reiner, who is charged with murdering his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, in their Brentwood home in December 2025. The remaining ceiling, if a jury convicts on the special-circumstance theory, is life without parole. Reiner has pleaded not guilty. A no-death announcement is a prosecutor’s election after aggravators and mitigators. It is not an acquittal, and it is not a sentence.
Hochman said the office spoke with family, including siblings, and weighed the factors that attach to special-circumstance murder. California has not executed anyone in two decades, and a gubernatorial moratorium has been in place since 2019. None of that is a finding that the killings were less serious. It is a decision about what the State will ask a jury to do if it gets that far.
As of Sept. 17, 2026, the public record is still a homicide case with a not-guilty answer and no trial date this year that the DA expected to meet. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
Nathan Lee Lowe pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and the court sentenced him to life without parole.
A guilty plea and a life term are the judgment on the counts he admitted. They are not a jury verdict, and the public accounts still do not name a weapon or a medical cause beyond trauma. WACB’s plea story says deputies found “obvious severe trauma.” WHKY, carrying that story, says “severe trauma.” The Taylorsville Times, citing Sheriff Chad Pennell the day after the 2024 arrest, said “apparent trauma” and listed Lowe’s age then as 39. The plea coverage lists him as 41.
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Reporting noted by WACB, WHKY, and Taylorsville Times.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
A Marion County jury convicted Roderick Watson Jr., and the judge sentenced him to life.
A life term after a guilty verdict is the judgment on that count. It is not a second look at the self-defense claim the jury rejected. The State Attorney's Office says deputies found four gunshot wounds. Law & Crime, citing the arrest affidavit, says six. The office's release places the school "in Citrus." WFTV places it in Citra. The name on the office's release is Jaurez. Three other outlets spell it Juarez.
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Reporting noted by Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, WFTV, WCJB, and Law & Crime.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
Judge Morgan sentenced Dylan Cody Lamb to life for killing Nadyne Marie Tillman.
Friday's order is the sentence on an August jury verdict. Keys News, citing the State Attorney's Office, reported life without parole plus two five-year terms that run together. Keys Weekly reported the verdict as second-degree murder, false imprisonment, and tampering with evidence. The Miami Herald's conviction story called one of those counts kidnapping. The judgment Keys News reported Friday used the false-imprisonment label.
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Reporting noted by Keys News, Keys Weekly, Miami Herald, NBC 6 South Florida, Monroe County State Attorney's Office, and Monroe County Sheriff's Office.