Gardena Man Gets 41 years in Usher’s Slaying

One of two Gardena men convicted of murdering a newlywed Torrance movie theater usher during a robbery was sentenced Thursday to the maximum term of 41 years and four months in state prison.

Kevin Waters, 19, clutched a Bible during the court proceedings but made no comment as Torrance Superior Court Judge William C. Beverly sentenced him.

Sentencing for Waters’ co-defendant, 18-year-old Charles Mooney, was postponed until Dec. 19 so he can be evaluated by the California Youth Authority. Mooney was 17 at the time of the Jan. 13 murder, but was tried as an adult.

A jury last month convicted both men of murder, robbery and four counts of assault for tying up and beating four workers at the Del Amo Fashion Center movie theater before shooting Donald Hernandez, 19, in the mouth. Jurors told attorneys afterward that they could not decide which man pulled the trigger.

Hernandez, who had married his Carson High School sweetheart just five months before the shooting, died two hours after the early-morning robbery.

Serena Hernandez, 20, briefly urged Beverly to sentence Waters and Mooney to the maximum possible terms. “My life has changed dramatically,” she said, fighting back tears. “I’m not happy anymore. I can’t smile anymore. . . . It’s lonely.”

Outside the courtroom, she described how she was waiting in the theater parking lot to pick up her husband after work when he came stumbling out the theater door, bleeding.

She and a theater employee tried to call 911 for help, but the robbers had cut the telephone lines. A painter who had been working inside the theater took the couple to Little Company of Mary Hospital, where Hernandez died.

Serena Hernandez said she had begun dating Donald in the 11th-grade “because he always tried to follow me around. He liked making people smile and laugh.”

Her mother, Grace Mestas, 37, said Hernandez was especially charming with Serena’s two younger siblings. The Hernandezes moved in with Mestas after their marriage last year.

“He was always happy, always laughing, always dancing,” Mestas said. “He was just a really nice kid.”

Hernandez, who loved working on and watching fast cars, had quit a job delivering pizza to work at the movie theater about two months before he died.

After Hernandez’s death, Mestas said her daughter could not go back inside the bedroom they had shared. “We’ve totally remodeled it now, new paint, new carpet, new everything,” Mestas said. “This has just been incredibly hard.”

After the sentencing, Waters’ defense attorney, Owen Petersen, said he would appeal his client’s conviction.

“The obvious error was not made at sentencing. If he was guilty, the sentence was appropriate,” Petersen said. “But I still do not believe he was guilty. He was crucified on the cross of Mr. Mooney’s fingerprints, Mr. Mooney’s presence and Mr. Mooney’s friendship.”

During the trial, Waters’ parents testified that their son was home with them on the night of the robbery.

“We believe our son is innocent of this crime and will always know and believe this,” they wrote in a letter to the judge. “In your decision making, please have compassion for our son.”

Victims in the case identified Waters from photographs. In addition, a Raiders jacket found at the theater had a receipt with Waters’ name and address in the pocket.

Petersen said Mooney, whose fingerprints were found at the scene, had borrowed the jacket and was wearing it the night of the murder.