2 Get Life in Drive-By Killing of Explorer Scout
Two gang members were sentenced Friday to life in prison for a drive-by shooting that killed a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Explorer Scout, leaving three others uninjured.
Superior Court Judge Donald Pitts sentenced Omar Abdul Butler, 19, of Los Angeles to 30 years to life in prison to run consecutively with two other life sentences and concurrently with a third life sentence. Pitts sentenced Reginal Malone, 20, of Los Angeles, to 26 years, eight months to life in prison to run consecutively with two other life sentences and concurrently with a third life sentence.
Anthony Gardner, 19, was standing beside a car on Sept. 18, 1989, talking with the two occupants and the car’s owner on Haas Street, when Malone drove by and slowed, allowing Butler, a passenger, to fire his handgun at the parked car and those standing near it. One of the bullets ricocheted off one of the car’s occupants, but no one but Gardner was injured in the shooting.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
