Burglar Who Killed on Dare Gets 30 Years

A burglar was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for the slaying of a Lake View Terrace resident who dared the intruder to shoot him during a 1985 break-in.

James Lester Settle Jr., 25, was convicted by a jury last month of first-degree murder, burglary and assault with a firearm in the April 9 killing of Charles Lovant Preyor, 54, in Preyor’s home. A separate jury found Kenry Eugene Lewis, 25, guilty of the same charges in the joint trial held before San Fernando Superior Court Judge John H. Major.

Lewis will be sentenced July 7.

According to testimony, the two men forced their way into Preyor’s house and ordered Preyor and William Vincent to lie on the living room floor. Then Preyor stood up and shouted, “Go ahead and shoot me,” and was shot in the neck, according to statements made by Vincent to police.

Settle denied breaking into Preyor’s home and killing the man, a probation report said.

The sentence includes a mandatory two-year prison term for the use of a firearm, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosalie Morton said. The state Board of Prison Terms will eventually decide whether Settle will ever be released, she said.