Regis Deon Thomas

Over a year later, on the night of February 22, 1993, at about 11 p.m., Compton Police Officer Kevin Michael Burrell, 29, and Reserve Officer James Wayne MacDonald, 24, made a routine traffic stop in Compton, at the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue and Dwight Avenue, on a red 1992 Chevrolet 454 pickup truck being driven by Thomas. As the officers exited their patrol car and approached the pickup truck, Thomas exited his vehicle and opened fire on both officers. Both officers were knocked down to the ground by bullet wounds to their limbs. According to trial testimony, Thomas shot at their heads execution-style. Both officers were wearing bulletproof vests and were found lying face down near their patrol car with their guns holstered. There were nine spent nine-millimeter shell casings in front of the patrol car. Burrell died of multiple gunshot wounds to the arm, face, left foot, and head. MacDonald was also shot four times, in his left armpit, middle back, upper back, and behind the right ear, and died of a gunshot wound to the chest. After the shootings Thomas returned to his truck and drove away.

Thomas was captured on April 6, 1993, when he surrendered to a broadcast news reporter. He was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to death on August 15, 1995. He is currently on death row awaiting execution and is imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison. His CDCR number is J76200.

On January 31, 1992, Thomas murdered Carlos Adkins in an apartment in Torrance by shooting him repeatedly to death.

Regis Deon Thomas (born June 16, 1970) is an African-American convicted murderer and Bloods gang member. Thomas was sentenced to death for a 1992 murder in Torrance, California, and for the 1993 murders of Kevin Michael Burrell and James Wayne MacDonald, two officers in the Compton Police Department, who were shot dead during a traffic stop in the City of Compton. They were the first Compton police officers killed in the line of duty in the department's 65-year history.

Thomas was born on June 16, 1970. He was the oldest of four children and grew up in South-Central Los Angeles. He was a member of the Bounty Hunter Bloods street gang, a Bloods subset based out of Watts, Los Angeles, California. Thomas was convicted of perjury in 1990. He had once worked at a liquor store as a security guard, but the building was burned down during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, resulting in Thomas being out of work for a year.