CRIME: Man gets life for killing tortilla shop manager

LYNWOOD − A 33-year-old man convicted of killing a store attendant in Lynwood was sentenced Thursday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Deputy District Attorney Andrea Davalos, who prosecuted the case, said Kyle Henderson was convicted by a jury on April 23 of first-degree murder, attempted murder and second-degree robbery.

Jurors found true a special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed in the commission of a robbery. Also, a special allegation that Henderson discharged a firearm, which caused great bodily injury and death, was found to be true.

Additionally, Henderson admitted that he was previously convicted of second-degree robbery in 1999, and assault on a peace officer in 2000.

The prosecutor said in the late afternoon of Jan. 15, 2012, Henderson entered Crystal Produce Meat Market in Lynwood, produced a gun and robbed the female cashier. Afraid for her life, the cashier fled the market and went next door to a tortilla shop.

The cashier told the tortilla shop manager and an employee, Jorge Alvarado, that a man had just robbed the market. Armed with a knife, the shop manager and Alvarado exited the store to confront Henderson at the market, the prosecutor said.

As Henderson exited the market armed with a gun and with money from the cash register, the tortilla shop manager, in fear for his life, stabbed Henderson in the neck.

After getting slashed, Henderson turned towards the two men and fired two rounds at them, one of which hit Alvarado in the head. He later died at the hospital.

Several hours after the shooting, Henderson went to the hospital to get treated for his neck wound. While there, police were notified and he was arrested in connection with the fatal robbery, the prosecutor added.

•A man and a woman pleaded no contest Wedneday to felony charges related to the hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a Pacoima man in a wheelchair.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Stogel said Tatiana Cacho, 25, pleaded no contest to one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in case PA082176.

Christian Salvador Olvera, 23, entered a no contest plea to one count of accessory after the fact.

Sentencing is scheduled Dec. 12 .

Cacho faces two years in state prison and Olvera faces 16 months in county jail at the sentencing hearing.

Manuel De Jesús González, 40, was near Terra Bella Street and Cayuga Avenue in Pacoima on Sept. 26 when he was run over by Cacho, the prosecutor said. González died as a result of the injuries.

•A 28-year-old teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he sexually molested a 17-year-old Highland High School student.

Deputy District Attorney Seth Carmack said Aaron Joseph Alvidrez, 28, of Lancaster, was arraigned on three counts of sodomy of person under 18, two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and one count each of distributing or showing pornography to a minor and meeting a minor for lewd purposes.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Alvidrez, a long-term substitute teacher at the Palmdale school, assaulted the boy at a classroom and inside his vehicle in September and October, the prosecutor said.

If convicted as charged, he faces a possible maximum sentence of eight years in state prison.

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Published: Nov. 20, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 32