Man facing 70-plus years behind bars for Las Vegas liquor store killing
A man convicted of fatally shooting a Las Vegas liquor store clerk during robbery must spend more than 70 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole, a judge decided Friday.
While jurors spared Ray Charles Brown, 26, from the death penalty after convicting him in the April 2016 slaying of 24-year-old Matthew Christensen, District Judge Michelle Leavitt sentenced him on several other charges, including first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, assault and conspiracy in connection with the killing inside the back room of a Lee’s Discount Liquor.
Christensen’s mother, Theresa Christensen, asked the judge to ensure that Brown spends his life behind bars.
“He knew what he was doing, and he took my son’s life,” she said. “A life for a life. He should stay where he’s at. That’s how I feel.”
After convicting Brown in February, jurors decided that he should serve 20 years to life in prison for first-degree murder.
Christensen was shot six times, after he handed over his wallet and cellphone and threw his hands in the air. Prosecutors said he had lured the robbers away from his pregnant coworker, and he was shot after he told Brown he could not open the store’s safe.
Prosecutors said Brown, a documented gang member, had prior charges that dated back to 2005, when he was a juvenile, including drug possession, petty larceny, battery and coercion.
Defense attorneys said Brown had been bullied in school and grew up without his father, while his mother was sent to prison on a drug charge when he was about 5.
On Friday, Brown, a father of two young children, asked the judge for mercy.
“First, I would like to apologize to the Christensen’s for their loss,” he said. “I know how it feels to lose someone near to your heart, and I hope that one day you all will find forgiveness in your heart.”
Defense attorney Josh Tomsheck said that Brown had worked to improve his life since his arrest.
At trial, jurors heard a 911 call from Christensen’s then-pregnant coworker, Jamie Henderson.
At the sentencing hearing, she said she did not work for a year after the shooting and would likely never return to a job in a retail environment.
Of Brown, she said: “I don’t think he should ever see the light of day again.”
The video showed Brown fire multiple shots that struck Christensen, a part-time employee, who had directed his killer away from his coworkers and to the back of the southwest valley store.
Another armed robber, Lee Dominic Sykes, 24, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to between 25 and 65 years in prison.
His older brother, Lee Murray Sykes, 26, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years behind bars.
Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly on Friday pointed to video surveillance of what started out as an armed robbery.
“There’s no question of the three who caused the most damage in this case, and that was Ray Brown,” Weckerly said. “It was Ray Brown, of the three defendants, who changed everything.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.