MURRIETA, Calif. (KNX) — A Los Angeles man accused of the fatal shooting of a Menifee youth basketball coach was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder.
A Murrieta jury found Othelon Dale Lyons, 31, guilty of the 2019 killing of 38-year-old Claudell Garlan Walter, with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait. Prosecutors alleged Lyons believed Walter had stolen drugs from him.
According to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, the defendant was a drug trafficker. Though it was not known if the defendant and victim ever met, Lyons believed Walter, who worked as a truck driver, had taken some of the drugs in his possession.
“Claudell Walter was a well-respected youth basketball coach,” Deputy D.A. Marcus Garrett said. “His friends and family deny any knowledge of him being involved in any illegal activity of any kind.”
Lyons was expected to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole, likely due to past felony convictions. He will be sentenced in Riverside County Superior Court on April 15, and was being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in the interim.
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