| For Immediate Release Case # 06NF2865
|
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 |
TWO MEN SENTENCED TO STATE PRISON FOR SHOOTING LIQUOR STORE OWNER AND CUSTOMER
IN HEAD DURING ROBBERY CAUGHT ON
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
SANTA ANA – Two men face were sentenced today to state prison for shooting a liquor store owner and a customer in the head and callously stepping over their bodies to steal the cash register and escape. The attempted murders were caught on video surveillance tape. William Deshawn Cartlidge, 23, and Neil Deontrai Duffey, 22, both of Long Beach, were each found guilty by a jury June 14, 2010, of two felony counts of attempted murder and two felony counts second degree robbery. A sentencing enhancement for being armed with a firearm was found true against Cartlidge. The sentencing enhancements against Duffey for the personal discharge of a firearm, personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury, and causing great bodily injury were also found true by the jury.
Duffey was sentenced today to 64 years to life in state prison and Cartlidge was sentenced today to 14 years to life in state prison.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2006, Cartlidge and Duffey entered Sunshine Liquor on Western Avenue in Buena Park armed with firearms. Immediately after entering the store, Duffey pulled out his firearm and shot Mote Malhas in the head. Malhas owned Sunshine Liquor and was working as the clerk. After the victim had been shot, Cartlidge walked behind the counter, took the keys off Malhas, and attempted to open the cash register as the victim suffered on the ground.
While Cartlidge attempted to open the cash register, Duffey shot customer Cesar Castillo in the face and the back of the head as the unsuspecting victim entered the store. After being unable to open the cash register, the defendants removed the entire register and took it out to their car. As they left the store, Cartlidge bent over and stole Castillo’s wallet as he lay bleeding on the floor. The defendants then fled the scene.
The attempted murders were captured on store video surveillance. The video surveillance was aired on local news stations in an effort to identify the defendants, who turned themselves in on Aug. 22, 2006, in Los Angeles County.
Both victims survived the attempted murders but Castillo continues to suffer from permanent blindness in one eye.
At the sentencing today, Malhas told the court that he had waited for this moment for four years and was hopeful that justice would be done.