Keon Bailey, 20

Keon Bailey, a 20-year-old black man, was shot and killed Tuesday, March 8, at 18099 Prairie Ave. in Torrance, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. 

Bailey walked into Leilani’s Jewelers just before noon and pointed a gun at the store owner in a robbery attempt, Torrance Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Kranke said. 

The owner of the store pulled out his own gun and fired twice, killing Bailey, Kranke said. 

Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:17 p.m., according to coroner’s records. 

Investigators found a 9-millimeter handgun at the scene they think belonged to Bailey, Kranke said. The gun had not been fired, he said. 

The jewelry store owner called 911 immediately after the shooting and has been cooperating with investigators, Kranke said. The police department has not released his name, but in an interview with the Daily Breeze, shop owner Tad Tanino said he fired at Bailey after Bailey pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t turn over his money. 

Bailey was convicted of first-degree burglary and receiving stolen property in May 2014. He was released on parole from Wasco State Prison in Kern County on Feb. 18, after serving about half of a four-year sentence, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino told The Times. 

Less than two weeks later, Bailey became a suspect in two homicides and two robberies in Apple Valley, 70 miles east of Lancaster, where he had been released from prison. 

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s investigators said Bailey was a “person of interest” in the deaths of 95-year-old Louis Giuntini and his wife Rose, 92, who were found dead in their home in the 19900 block of State 18 Outer Highway about 4:15 p.m. Feb. 29. 

Their deaths have been ruled homicides, but investigators have not disclosed how the couple died or other details about the crime, said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Investigators have found evidence they say ties Bailey to the couple’s deaths, Bachman said, “but further testing is needed to confirm his involvement.”

The sheriff’s office also released surveillance camera footage they say shows Bailey carrying a gun during a robbery on Feb. 28 at Neil's Donuts in Apple Valley, about a mile from the Giuntinis’ home.

Investigators said they also have found evidence linking Bailey to a home invasion robbery in the 15600 block of Myalon Road in Apple Valley on March 6. Bachman said the homeowner, a woman, was injured in that robbery, but the spokeswoman didn’t know the extent of her injuries.

Bailey was an 18-year-old living in Gardena when he was arrested on suspicion of multiple burglaries in the Gardena and Long Beach area, said Gardena Police Lt. Russ Temple. Gardena investigators knew about eight victims, Temple said, but Bailey confessed to many other burglaries around Los Angeles County.

“He was a knock-knock burglar; he’d knock on the door, make sure no one was home, and then go inside through a window or door,” Temple said. “He told us he did burglaries in Carson, Malibu, Calabasas and Torrance.”  

Bailey was sentenced to four years in prison for burglary and two years for receiving stolen property, but the judge ordered the sentences to be carried out concurrently and also reduced his sentence by 114 days for time served awaiting trial, Patino said.

Because his crimes were not listed as violent or serious offenses under Penal Code Section 2933, approved by the California Legislature in 1992, Bailey was eligible to receive 50% credit, or a day’s credit for each day he served, as long as he had good behavior in prison, Patino said.

If those crimes had involved a weapon, Patino said, they would have been considered more serious, and he would have been eligible for only a 15% credit for time served.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.