Suspects in slaying of bartender indicted

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 10:47 a.m.

The two men being held in the late-night slaying of a Doc Holliday's tavern bartender have been indicted on murder charges by a Clark County grand jury.

Charles Randolph, 31, is charged with murder, robbery and other counts in the death of Shelly Lokken, who worked the graveyard shift in the pub at Westcliff and Durango drives.

Tyrone Laffayette Garner, 41, is charged as Randolph's accomplice who waited in car. Two prostitutes who were with Garner after the incident tipped police to the defendants' identities, saying Garner "flipped out" when news reports about the slaying were aired.

A police affidavit filed in the case indicated Garner, of Palmdale, Calif., admitted to detectives that he had driven Randolph to the bar at 8450 Westcliff Drive but didn't know a robbery was going to occur.

Yet Garner is charged with multiple counts in the incident, including murder, although he is not alleged to have been inside the bar when the shooting occurred. Under Nevada's felony murder law, a participant in an incident that leads to murder is as culpable as the killer.

Randolph and Garner already were in custody on criminal charges, but the grand jury indictment replaces the need for a preliminary hearing to push the case to District Court for a trial. The purpose of both Justice Court preliminary hearings and grand jury indictments is to determine if sufficient evidence exists to hold a person for trial.