2 Security Guards Sentenced in Slaying

Two security guards who worked at an Inglewood nightclub frequented by teen-agers have been sentenced to state prison for gunning down a patron who had criticized girls inside the club.

Torrance Superior Court Judge William Beverly on Monday sentenced Shaka Muhammad, 24, to 20 years to life in state prison in the death of 19-year-old Kevin Davis of Los Angeles. He ordered Abdul Malik Muhammad, a 39-year-old owner of an unlicensed security guard service, to serve 25 years to life because he had been convicted in 1974 of felony robbery. Each also was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.

Jurors last month convicted the Muhammads, who are not related, of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Davis.

Two earlier trials in the case had ended with deadlocked juries. The third jury reached a verdict after two days of deliberation.

Before pronouncing sentence, Beverly denied a motion for a new trial by Shaka Muhammad’s attorney.

“The crime is highly aggravated by the fact (they) occupied a position of responsibility as a security guard at the time the events took place,” Beverly noted.

According to testimony during the trial, the Muhammads shot Davis outside RBD-Joshua’s, a Manchester Boulevard teen night club, shortly after 10:30 p.m. on March 31, 1990.

Witnesses testified that the guards became enraged when Davis made a derogatory remark about the girls inside the club.

After several minutes of arguing, witnesses said, Davis called one of the Muhammads “gay” and then turned to step inside a car with a friend.

As Davis sat in the car’s passenger seat, witnesses said, Abdul Muhammad fired three shots at him through the side window, fatally wounding him. They said Shaka Muhammad stood in front of the car and fired a bullet through the windshield. Ballistic evidence showed that bullet missed Davis.

Defense attorney James Cooper, who represented Shaka Muhammad, asked Beverly to reduce his client’s sentence because the bullet he allegedly fired did not strike Davis.

The judge denied the motion.

“The fact that the bullet didn’t strike the victim may be more a matter of luck than intent,” Beverly said.

Cooper and attorney Ron Rothman, who represented Abdul Muhammad, argued during the trial that their clients were victims of mistaken identity. They focused on a number of discrepancies between what witnesses told police, what they testified to at a preliminary hearing and what they said during the trial to try to prove that witnesses had confused the Muhammads with the real killers.

Both attorneys said they plan to appeal the convictions.