Killers of Matthew Butcher sentenced to life without parole

Matthew Butcher worked at an Echo Park marijuana dispensary during a 2010 robbery. The robbers got away with $10,000 and a load of pot, but returned to shoot Butcher and co-worker Urban Jones, who survived. Matthew's mother, the labor union official Julie Butcher, spoke for him in court today. This is an excerpt from Facebook:

Matthew Benjamin Butcher was born on a cold, rainy St. Patrick’s Day in 1983. His first word was ball followed closely by dog, pronounced “Dawwwwdg!” with great excitement, and for a while our little world was divided into balls and dogs. He was a sweet baby, a delightful child, smart, stubborn, and inquisitive as an art, or for sport.

God, I loved him!

Matt was a gifted athlete with a smart eye and a big heart. The condolence notes I received from Matthew’s coaches across the years shared many kind words about his competitive spirit, selfless commitment to the team, love of the game.

He was a good man.

He was his mother’s son, never crossed a picket line, always rooted for the underdog. He worked at the Higher Path because he believed in the healing benefits of marijuana.

I’ve heard stories – stories a mother would never otherwise hear. Matthew was a good man, a good friend, a lover, not a fighter, a kibitzer, a committed golfer, a better brother than anyone except Steven Butcher knew; he treated women with respect – the prayer of every mother raising a son.

I miss him every day.

I wear his deodorant. Every morning I put on his scent, something manly and Gillette-y.

Last week I found myself chatting with my lovely young dentist, Dr. Helen Song. She stopped, put her hand on my arm when she realized the import of her telling me: “I was born in 1982.”

The whole thing is on Facebook. Raymond Lemone Easter, 31, and Daniel Deshawn Hinton, 35, of South Los Angeles were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.