2 Convicted in Theater Slaying
Two Gardena teen-agers were convicted this week of killing an usher during a botched robbery inside a Del Amo Fashion Center movie theater earlier this year.
Kevin Waters, 19, and Charles Mooney, who turned 18 on Wednesday, face as much as 39 years to life in state prison when they are sentenced Sept. 19 for the shooting death of 19-year-old newlywed Donald Hernandez.
Torrance Superior Court jurors deliberated 2 1/2 days before they convicted Waters and Mooney on Monday of murder, robbery and four counts of assault with a deadly weapon. After the verdict, jurors told attorneys they could not determine which of the two youths actually pulled the trigger, shooting Hernandez in the mouth.
According to testimony during the three-week trial, Waters and Mooney went to the theater shortly before midnight on Jan. 13, bound and gagged two other theater employees and threatened three painters before they approached Hernandez. Investigators concluded that the pair got away with no money, Deputy Dist. Atty. Janet Moore said.
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