Man Gets 26 Years to Life for Role in Pizza Shop Slaying

A 19-year-old man who admitted participating in the robbery and murder of a Porter Ranch pizza shop manager was sentenced Monday to 26 years to life in state prison.

Alex Velasquez, who had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, was the second of three defendants to be sentenced in the Jan. 14, 1993 shooting death of Michael Holden, a part-time college student who was working at Ameci In-and-Out Pizza at Tampa Avenue and Rinaldi Street near the Simi Valley Freeway.

An alleged accomplice, Oscar Villanueva, 18, who admitted driving the getaway car, was sentenced previously to 16 years to life in state prison. Villanueva will remain in the custody of the California Youth Authority until he turns 25.

Velasquez was sentenced under a plea bargain that spared him from the most severe sentence--life without parole. He had agreed to give prosecutors an account of what happened during the holdup.

The alleged triggerman, 18-year-old Dusty Tyrone Castillo, is still awaiting trial. He is undergoing a psychological examination to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.

Prosecutors said Castillo and Velasquez entered the pizza parlor and demanded money from Holden. Holden handed over $450, but was shot once in the chest anyway. He later died at a hospital.

The three defendants were juveniles at the time of the slaying, but were ordered to stand trial as adults following hearings in Sylmar Juvenile Court.