Jury recommends death for man convicted of Downey triple murder

DOWNEY — A jury today recommended that a man convicted of killing two women and a man in Downey nearly eight years ago be sentenced to death.

Jade Douglas Harris, 37, was convicted last month of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping for carjacking and one count of felon with a firearm. 

The jury also found true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a burglary, carjacking and kidnapping. 

Sentencing is scheduled on April 21 at Los Angeles County Superior Court, Norwalk Branch. 

Harris fatally shot Josimar Rojas, 26, Irene Cardenas Reyes, 35, and Susana Perez Ruelas, 34, on Oct. 24, 2012, after responding to an online advertisement for a vehicle for sale. 

According to evidence presented at trial, Rojas and Reyes were killed at a Downey business called United States Fire Protection. Both were bound and placed on their knees before being fatally shot in the head.

The defendant then kidnapped Perez Ruelas and her 13-year-old son and forced her to drive to a nearby home where the vehicle was located. Once there, Harris shot Perez Ruelas and then her son, who survived his injuries. 

Harris was found a day later and arrested.

Harris had been released from prison three months before the killings, after serving an eight-year sentence for a takeover robbery, the prosecutor said.