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Killer Sentenced For Somali Man's Death

Shane Pilson, 23, Pleaded Guilty To Voluntary Manslaughter In Death Of Khadar Hassan, 23

10News.com
Thursday, August 12, 2010

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SAN DIEGO -- A man who admitted his involvement in the shooting death of a Somali man during a robbery outside a City Heights taco shop in 2003 was sentenced Wednesday to six years in state prison.

Shane Christopher Pilson, 23, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the August 2003 death of 26-year-old Khadar Hassan, who was shot in the back of the head.

A jury deadlocked on a murder charge during his trial earlier this year

Pilson's alleged accomplice, 31-year-old Sherman Strong, is scheduled to stand trial in October.

Whether or not he fired the fatal shot, Pilson wore a bandana over his face and brought a gun to the taco shop to pull a "lick," Deputy District Attorney Dennis Panish told Judge Kenneth So Wednesday.

Pilson -- who was 16 at the time of the killing -- has a violent criminal history dating back to when he was a juvenile, the prosecutor said.

During trial, Panish said Hassan -- who had been drinking -- approached two assailants with a beer bottle in his hand about 3 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2003, and was shot when he wouldn't comply with their demands to give them money.

At the time, Hassan and two friends were waiting for their orders outside the Taco Fiesta taco shop, according to evidence presented at trial.

Source: 10NEWS.COM