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Thread: Reginald Wallace Sentenced to 3 Consecutive Life Terms in 2019 CA Triple Murder

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    Reginald Wallace Sentenced to 3 Consecutive Life Terms in 2019 CA Triple Murder





    Gang member charged in triple slaying at Torrance bowling alley

    By Javier Panzar
    The Los Angeles Times

    A 47-year-old Los Angeles gang member was charged Friday with killing three men at a Torrance bowling alley last month, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced.

    Reginald Leander Wallace of Los Angeles faces three counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the district attorney’s office.

    The charges include special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and killing to further the activities of a criminal street gang as well as allegations of using a handgun.

    If convicted, Wallace faces death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date, according to the district attorney’s office.

    Wallace was convicted of first degree murder as a juvenile in June 1989 and later convicted of possessing a gun within a school zone in 1997 and assault with a firearm in 1998, authorities said.

    Three Los Angeles residents died in the Jan. 4 shooting: Michael Di’Shawn Radford, 20; Astin Kyle Edwards, 28; and Robert Earl Meekins Jr., 28. Two injured men were taken to a hospital, and two others opted to seek medical attention on their own.

    Meekins went to the bowling alley that night to meet Astin Edwards, the godfather of his 5-year-old son.

    Torrance police arrested Wallace last month. He previously served 17 years in prison and was released in 2017.

    The shooting at Gable House Bowl, a popular night spot in the city since it opened in 1960, began with a fight between customers, Torrance Police Chief Eve Irvine said last month.

    The confrontation escalated to involve as many as 15 people, Irvine said.

    During the argument, Wallace pulled a gun from his pocket and began firing into the crowd, Irvine said. It appeared that he was the only shooter inside the building, she added, describing the weapon as a handgun but declining to specify its caliber.

    Wallace did not reload the gun, Irvine said.

    https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...215-story.html
    Last edited by Steven; 09-20-2022 at 11:35 AM.

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    March 19, 2019

    Man accused in Torrance bowling alley shooting enters not guilty pleas to murder, other charges

    Reginald Leander Wallace is accused of killing three people and injuring four others during a melee.

    By Sean Emery
    Daily Breeze

    A man accused of killing three people and injuring four others in a Torrance bowling alley shooting pleaded not guilty Tuesday during a brief court appearance.

    Reginald Leander Wallace, 47, of Los Angeles remained quiet during the hearing at the Torrance courthouse, as his attorneys entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to three counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

    Police allege that Wallace, whom they describe as a gang member, opened fire during a melee Jan. 4 at the Gable House Bowl in the 22500 block of Hawthorne Boulevard.

    Shortly before midnight, a fight at the bowling alley between two people quickly grew into a brawl involving 10 to 15 people, according to police. Wallace took a handgun out of his pocket, police allege, and began shooting.

    Killed by the gunfire were 28-year-old Astin Edwards, 28-year-old Robert Meekins Jr. and 20-year-old Michael Radford, all of Los Angeles.

    Wallace was arrested two days after the shooting. Police say they identified him as the shooter through witnesses and surveillance footage.

    According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Wallace in 1989 was convicted of first-degree murder while still a juvenile.

    Wallace’s court-appointed attorney’s declined to comment following Tuesday’s hearing on the charges he is facing.

    Wallace is scheduled to return to court on May 23 for a preliminary hearing at which it will be determined if there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. He is being held without bail.

    https://www.dailybreeze.com/2019/03/...other-charges/

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    Wallace was convicted of first degree murder as a juvenile in June 1989 and later convicted of possessing a gun within a school zone in 1997 and assault with a firearm in 1998, authorities said.
    So he served 8 years or less for first degree murder? Disgusting! How those who allowed this to happen sleep at night?

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    June 24, 2022

    LA man convicted of 3 murders, 4 attempted murders in Torrance bowling alley brawl

    By Nathaniel Percy
    Daily Breeze

    A Los Angeles man on parole when he fired into a brawl at a crowded Torrance bowling alley in January 2019 was convicted on Friday, June 24, in the deaths of three men and for wounding four others.

    Torrance Superior Court jurors were handed the case Thursday afternoon and needed less than two hours Friday morning before returning guilty verdicts against Reginald Leander Wallace, 51, on three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder and a count of a felon in possession of a firearm.

    Sobs broke out as the courtroom clerk read the first guilty verdict, for the murder of Michael Di’Shawn Radford, 20. Guilty verdicts for the murders of Astin Kyle Edwards, 28, and Robert Earl Meekins Jr., 28, followed.

    Edwards and Meekins were best friends. Meekins and Radford were fathers.

    Family members have said the three Los Angeles residents were attempting to break up the fight inside the bowling alley when they were shot.

    Wallace, wearing a plaid, blue button-up shirt, stared straight ahead as the verdicts were read. When sentenced during a yet-scheduled hearing, he faces the possiblity of life without the chance of parole.

    Prosecutor John Chang, who handled the case with fellow prosecutor Robert Song, said the relentless work of Torrance police detective Lucas Ryono was what ultimately led to the conviction.

    “The community has spoken and said that they not only will not condone gang violence, but they will hold those who commit that violence accountable,” Chang said outside the courtroom after the verdicts were read.

    Some family members of the victims were still tearful as they left the courtroom. They thanked Chang and Ryono before leaving.

    Wallace’s public defender, Scott T. Johnson, said Wallace wanted to tell his story so he testifed. Johnson was hopeful the jury took it under consideration.

    “This is very difficult for Mr. Wallace, but hopefully he’s able to move forward, too,” Johnson said.

    It never surfaced during the trial what started the initial fight between two groups of women just before midnight on Jan. 4, 2019. But video shows four women standing near the food pickup area when two others approached them — words were exchanged and then a fight erupted.

    About 15 men joined in.

    Wallace, previously convicted of a series of crimes, including murder as a minor, was out on parole after being released from prison for assault with a firearm. He has been in custody for all but a few years of his adult life.

    Wallace, who identified himself as a gang associate, testified that he knew rival gang members were in the bowling alley before the fight broke out.

    As the fight swayed back and forth between the front counter and an arcade, Wallace walked toward a front entrance, video presented during the trial shows. As the melee approached him, Wallace, then 47 years old, took two or three steps forward and, while still holding a Styrofoam cup with brandy in his left hand, pulled out a handgun with his right hand and fired 11 times at the crowd.

    Wallace then walked out of the bowling alley. He was picked up by friends along Hawthorne Boulevard and arrested two days later near Koreatown and been in jail since.

    Prosecutors argued the shooting was a gang hit and said Wallace targeted specific people; they referred to recorded jailhouse conversations: Wallace told a cellmate that he saw his enemies and specifically picked a spot underneath a surveillance camera near the entrance thinking it wouldn’t capture the shooting.

    But other cameras did.

    Johnson, Wallace’s alternate public defender, argued his client was protecting himself and those he was with after he saw one victim pull a gun during the brawl. Wallace testified he was in fear for his life and reacted by pulling his gun and firing.

    Ultimately, jurors rejected Wallace’s version of the events.

    Gable House Bowl, on Hawthorne just south of Sepulveda Boulevard, has been a popular South Bay hangout for more than 50 years. It reopened a day after the shooting.

    https://www.dailybreeze.com/2022/06/...g-alley-brawl/
    Last edited by Steven; 09-20-2022 at 09:50 AM.

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    Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Bowling Alley Shooting

    By Terri Vermeulen Keith
    City News Service

    TORRANCE (CNS) - A man who was convicted of murdering three men and wounding four other people in a shooting at a bowling alley in Torrance while he was on parole was sentenced Friday to three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Jurors found Reginald Leander Wallace, now 51, of Los Angeles, guilty June 24 of three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Michael Radford, 20, and Robert Meekins and Astin Edwards, both 28, just before midnight Jan. 4, 2019 at Gable House Bowl at 22501 Hawthorne Blvd.

    The panel also convicted Wallace of four counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, along with finding true the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder with a prior murder conviction.

    Shortly before being sentenced, Wallace admitted that he was convicted of murder as a juvenile in 1989 and as an adult in 1998 for assault with a firearm.

    The judge cited Wallace's prior convictions and the facts of the case in declining defense attorney Scott T. Johnson's request to strike the special circumstance allegations, saying he believed it would be an abuse of his discretion.

    Radford's mother, Michelle Miller, told the defendant, "You tore up three families."

    She noted that her son wasn't alive long enough to be on hand for his daughter's first birthday, and said that she wanted to ensure that Wallace doesn't ever walk out of prison again.

    Meekins' mother, Anglean Hubbard, said in a statement read in court on her behalf that she keeps asking herself why Wallace shot her son.

    "Do you have any regrets?" she wrote, addressing the defendant. "Do you think about Robert? ... As Robert's mother, I hope you never see the light of day."

    In a letter read in court on his behalf, Meekins' son also addressed the defendant, "He was my everything and you took all that away from me. I will never forgive you."

    Edwards' sister, Ashley, called her brother's killer a "coward," and said "it doesn't get any easier" as the four-year anniversary of his killing grows closer.

    Wallace's attorney said his client -- whom he said has spent the majority of his life behind bars -- feels "immense remorse" for what happened. He said Wallace is "not a monster" and is a "human being" who as a child was not given the chances others had.

    Deputy District Attorney John Chang told the judge that he had recently re-watched the surveillance video of the crime, noting that Wallace had "so many choices" that night and could have taken a few steps out of the bowling alley but opted to insert himself into a melee in which police said a fight involving several people grew into a brawl involving as many as 15.

    "The only just sentence in this case based on the defendant's actions is the life without the possibility of parole sentencing," the prosecutor said.

    Outside court, fellow prosecutor Robert Song said Wallace used the fight as cover, pulled out a handgun and shot into the crowd in a gang- motivated attack involving what he perceived were his enemies.

    Radford, Meekins and Edwards were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people were taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries and two other men sought medical attention on their own.

    Wallace was arrested early Jan. 6, 2019, by Torrance police detectives and SWAT officers in the area of 4th Street and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, police said. He has remaiend behind bars since then.

    https://kfiam640.iheart.com/featured...lley-shooting/

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