SUN VALLEY : Slain Tagger’s Companion Sentenced to 20 Days in Jail

A tagger who survived a New Year’s Day run-in that left his friend dead in Sun Valley pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor vandalism charge.

David Hillo, 20, entered his plea before Van Nuys Municipal Judge Rebecca Omens and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. Hillo, who was also placed on three years’ probation, must remove graffiti for two months.

Hillo and Cesar Arce, 18, were tagging a freeway overpass in Sun Valley about 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 when William Masters II saw them and began writing down the license number of a car in which they had arrived.

Masters, a bit actor who allegedly was carrying an illegally concealed gun, said he shot at the young men after Arce threatened him with a screwdriver. Arce was killed and Hillo was wounded.

Masters has had a previous run-in with authorities in Texas and has shown no remorse for killing Arce. Masters faces misdemeanor charges of carrying a loaded firearm and carrying a concealed firearm in a public place.