Robber Gets 32 Years for N. Hollywood Bar Killing

A 19-year-old North Hollywood man was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a bartender and injuring two customers during a robbery attempt in North Hollywood.

Lydell F. Magee was convicted in October of first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a firearm and attempted robbery in connection with the February, 1985, shooting at Wellington’s Restaurant and Bar in North Hollywood.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge John H. Major ordered Lydell to serve 25 years to life for murder, plus seven years and eight months for two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Major also ordered Magee to return to court today for a possible resentencing to add two years because of special circumstances in commission of the murder, court officials said.

Authority Doubted

Magee’s attorney, Bernard Rosen, said he doubted whether Major had the authority to resentence Magee and said he would take up the matter in court today.

During his one-month trial, Magee admitted the shooting but contested the prosecution’s claim that it was deliberate.

Police said Magee entered the bar Feb. 7 bearing a rifle, mumbled some words about robbing the bar and opened fire. The shots killed bartender John Shetler, 38, and injured customers Keith Poppe, 40 and Armand Bouzas, 35.

Shetler’s mother, who was visiting her son from Pennsylvania, witnessed the shooting.

A busboy at the restaurant is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 16 in connection with the shooting. He allegedly set up the robbery because he was angry with the bar’s owner. Ivan Airaya, 18, is charged with one count of murder, two counts of assault with a firearm and one count of attempted robbery.

Magee, who has been held at County Jail since his arrest in February, will appeal the sentence, his attorney said. He will be eligible to seek parole in about 16 years.