A 17-year-old girl whose lies prompted two men to kill actor Merlin Santana was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in juvenile prison.
Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler sentenced Monique King, who was 15 when Santana was killed in November 2002, to a California Youth Authority prison until she turns 25. King was convicted last month of second-degree murder and attempted murder.
"Justice will be served," the judge said. But he added the sentence will "bring the family of Mr. Santana no comfort."
Santana, of North Hollywood, was 26 when he was shot in the head on Nov. 9, 2002 in the passenger seat of a car in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, where he was visiting an acquaintance. Another man in the car escaped injuries.
Damien Andre Gates, 21, was sentenced in February to three consecutive life sentences plus 70 years after being convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Brandon Douglas Bynes, 25, was sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty in January to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon.
King was with the two men and told them Santana had made "some sort of physical advance on her" but later recanted the story, Deputy District Attorney Greg Dohi said last month.
Her accusation angered Gates, who used a rifle to shoot Santana while Bynes fired a handgun, Dohi said.
"It's clear that Miss King's lies started the ultimate result in this case," the judge said Tuesday.
New York-born Santana had a frequent role as Romeo Santana on "The Steve Harvey Show" and appeared on other television shows, including "Major Dad," "Moesha" and "Sister, Sister." He also played Stanley, who had a crush on Rudy Huxtable on the hit, "The Cosby Show."
Cruzcina Santana, his mother, attended the sentencing and sobbed while talking about the murder of her son.
"As time goes by, it hurts more and more," she told the judge. "To go on with my life, I have to learn to live without my son."
------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
