A 56-year-old man was sentenced last week to 40 years to life in state prison for shooting to death an off-duty security guard during a fight outside a Hawthorne fast-food restaurant more than two years ago, court records show.
Darryl Deshon Fletcher was handed the sentence in Airport Superior Court on Friday, Sept. 4, more than a month after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in the shooting of 57-year-old Eddie McAllister of Lawndale on Jan. 17, 2024.
The two men were inside Fabulous Charbroiled Burgers, at 3301 Rosecrans Ave. just past 2 a.m., waiting for their food orders when they struck up a conversation then began arguing, according to court papers filed by prosecutors ahead of Fletcher’s trial.
McAllister got his food and then went outside to the parking lot, prosecutors wrote. Less than 10 seconds later, Fletcher got his food, went outside, set it on the ground and challenged McAllister to a fight.
During the fight, McAllister knocked Fletcher to the ground and Fletcher’s gun fell from a concealed area, prosecutors wrote. While on his hands and knees and with McAllister on top of him, Fletcher grabbed the gun and shot McAllister in the chest, according to court papers and a medical examiner’s report.
Fletcher grabbed the gun, walked to his car and drove away.
Two people at the restaurant recorded the fight and shooting on their cellphones, and surveillance video at the restaurant captured the moments leading up to the fight.
While getting booked, Fletcher allegedly told an officer that his interests included family time with his son and “I just (expletive) it up,” according to court documents.
Why Fletcher and McAllister argued was not included in the trial brief filed by prosecutors. Whether the two men knew each other was unclear.
Family members of McAllister told Fox 11 Los Angeles shortly after his killing that he had stopped to get something to eat after getting off work elsewhere as an unarmed security guard.
He was a father of four children, they told the station, and he had a knack for striking up a conversation with anybody.
Fletcher was identified quickly by detectives and tracked down to a nearby city and arrested the same day as the shooting.
Prior to the trial, Fletcher pleaded no contest to one count each of felon in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of ammunition, court records show.