Reginald Denny Beating Defendant Sentenced In Murder Case
Man Already Convicted Of Beating Trucker During Riots Of 1992
POSTED: 12:37 p.m. PST December 5, 2003
UPDATED: 3:29 p.m. PST December 5, 2003
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis B. Rappe also ordered Damian Williams, 30, to serve an additional 21 years in prison for a firearm theft charge and other violations.
The judge denied attorney Edi M.O. Faal's second request for a new trial after hearing testimony from Williams co-defendant Tyrone David Killingsworth.
Killingsworth, 38, was the triggerman and was sentenced last month to 110 years to life in state prison, along with an additional 20-year prison term.
With his attorney by his side and a sheriff's deputy nearby, Killingsworth recounted his version of what happened at the crack house in southwest Los Angeles where Grover Tinner was shot to death July 18, 2000.
Killingsworth denied that Williams -- after handing him two guns -- told him some time before the 48-year-old drug dealer arrived, "You know what to do. Don't let me down."
In explaining why he waited until Williams' sentencing to explain his version of what happened that night, Killingsworth said, "I believe we were wrongfully convicted."
Killingsworth testified that he believed one of the guns Williams had asked him to hold accidentally went off as he struggled with Tinner, while Williams was struggling with another man. But he said he was unsure if those shots struck Tinner or if the gunfire that killed the victim came from somewhere else.
Deputy District Attorney Tom Rubinson disputed Killingsworth's version of the events, and said jurors returned a "very reasonable and correct verdict" against both men.
Williams served four years of a 10-year term after he was convicted of felony mayhem for throwing a brick on Denny's head as the riots began.
Denny was pulled out of a big rig at Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29, 1992, a short time after a state jury in Simi Valley acquitted four white Los Angeles police officers accused of beating black motorist Rodney King.
Williams denied he was the person caught on videotape attacking Denny.
Williams did not comment during Friday's sentencing hearing.
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