She spent 32 years in prison for a violent robbery. Now she's been granted parole under a new state law

Ranza Marshall, in an undated photograph, was sentenced 8 years to life in 1992.

By Nathan SolisStaff Writer

Dec. 29, 2022 3:56 PM PT

After serving 32 years in prison for her part in a violent armed robbery, Ranza Marshall was informed Thursday that she had been granted parole and would soon be freed.

Marshall heard the news via speakerphone at the California Institution for Women in Chino.

“Good luck, Ms. Marshall,” said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Connie Quiñonez, who spoke to the inmate from a Compton courtroom.

“Thank you,” Marshall said, her voice breaking, as she sobbed quietly before the call ended.

Marshall was sentenced to eight years to life in state prison for the attempted murder and attempted robbery of a jewelry store owner in Paramount in February 1990. She was also convicted of conspiring to commit a robbery.

Though the jewelry store owner, Said Messiha, was shot five times during the robbery, Marshall never fired a gun that day. The shooter was described only as an older man who brought Marshall to the store and identified as “Poppa” or “Darryl” in court documents.

But under a 2019 change to California’s penal code, Marshall is eligible to have the attempted murder conviction vacated because she did not intend to kill anyone and was not a major participant in the underlying felony.

Though Messiha survived the shooting, he’s still haunted by the robbery. During a parole hearing in 2021, the store owner said the shooting changed his life and made him fearful that the robbers would retaliate. He said the robbery ruined him financially and he later lost his business.

A prosecutor read Messiha’s statement in court on Thursday, urging the court not to release Marshall.

“My sense of peace will never be the same,” he said.

Two weeks after her 18^th birthday, Marshall and her unidentified accomplice robbed the jewelry store. Marshall acted as a lookout, according to prosecutors, while “Poppa” shot Messiha. The store owner managed to return fire with his own gun from behind the counter.

During the robbery, Marshall was shot by the man who brought her to the store and she collapsed outside as another suspect put her into a getaway car and drove off. A motorcycle, also believed to be involved in the robbery, followed closely behind.

Marshall dropped a purse with thumb cuffs inside the store and a loaded .38-caliber handgun and left a trail of blood, according to court documents. Shell casings found in the store showed that “Poppa” had used a different caliber gun during the robbery.

Marshall told doctors and police at a hospital that she was hit in a drive-by shooting. Later, she claimed that she didn’t know “Poppa” that well and didn’t know he was going to rob the store. She said that “Poppa” told her that he only wanted to buy her a wedding ring. She was still a student at Inglewood High School at the time of the robbery.

At a probation hearing in August 1992, she apologized to Messiha for her role in the shooting.

She also apologized to her family.

“I see the pain in their eyes when they visit me,” Marshall said at the time. “I’m so grateful to have parents who have been so supportive to me through this whole ordeal.

“I have suffered a great deal, also,” she added. “The most important thing is, my life is at stake, the only life I have.”

But prosecutors argued that it wasn’t until a 2017 parole hearing that Marshall finally admitted to her role in the robbery.

Los Angeles Deputy Dist. Atty. Keith Duckett argued that Marshall aided in the robbery and over the years has had a history of committing serious crimes while incarcerated.

Marshall was prosecuted under a theory of natural and probable consequences, according to prosecutors. This essentially means attempted murder was the consequence of the robbery.

But under the newly modified penal code, her conviction was set aside for a new hearing.

For prosecutors to secure their conviction, they would have to prove that Marshall had the specific intent to kill the jewelry store owner during the robbery.

“The evidence does not exist for the intent to kill,” Duckett said.

Marshall has been eligible for parole for at least 20 years, prosecutors say. But a documented history of committing serious crimes while incarcerated has prevented her release.

Prosecutors did not specifically identify any of those crimes but said they included some fights up until last year.

Marshall petitioned the court for resentencing in March. She was represented in court by the Long Beach nonprofit Unite the People. Her attorney, Rosemary Chávez, called Thursday’s hearing a victory for Marshall, someone who had little agency over her actions when she was 18.

“I moved heaven and earth to get this done before year’s end so she can start 2023” under parole and transition toward the next phase of her life, Chávez said.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing,” Ceasar McDowell, co-founder of Unite the People, said outside the courthouse after the hearing. “It’s a huge thing to happen in your life after 32 years in prison.”

It was not clear Thursday when Marshall’s release date will be scheduled.

Marshall’s family were not able to attend her court hearing, but employees from the nonprofit filled out the audience.

McDowell said the nonprofit provided Marshall affordable legal services so she can move on with her life.

“It’s not quite pro bono, but it’s low bono,” McDowell said. “We represent people who can’t afford high-priced lawyers.”

Chávez added, “I still like to think the courts represent justice.”