Killer of Doughnut Shop Clerk Is Sentenced to Life Without Parole

A man convicted of fatally shooting a South-Central Los Angeles doughnut shop clerk during a videotaped robbery was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday.

A surveillance videotape and an eyewitness account led a jury to convict Ronnie Law, 37, of first- degree murder for last year’s slaying of Conrado Cruz, a 26-year-old clerk at Winchell’s Donut House on Florence Avenue at Main Street.

Law was on parole for possession of illegal drugs at the time of the shooting.

His attorney, Ted T. Yamamoto, called the sentence too severe. “It’s just a sad situation. He’s had a troubled life, but he was getting his life together,” Yamamoto said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven Barshop responded: “You kill somebody in a robbery, that’s what you get.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judith L. Champagne sentenced Law after presiding over a three-week trial. The lone eyewitness to testify identified Law as the man who entered the doughnut shop with a handgun in the early hours of Oct. 27 and ordered Cruz to empty the cash register, which had about $40 in it.

According to witness Willie Peggie’s testimony, when Cruz refused to hand him the money, Law jumped over the counter and shot the clerk once in the chest, killing him.

The three surveillance cameras--in the eating area, above the cash register and in a back room--did not capture the shooting but recorded images of the killer pointing a gun at Cruz and Cruz stumbling to the back room after being shot.

Yamamoto argued that Law’s five missing teeth proved that he was innocent, saying the man on the tape appeared to have all his teeth and that Law’s teeth were removed more than five years ago. Yamamoto also said Law and the man in the videotape had different hairlines.

Barshop produced another witness, Kenneth Madlock, who said Law had told him he was responsible for the shooting. Madlock came forward after management at Winchell’s offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Yamamoto said he is appealing the conviction.