Jurors vote guilty in killing of bartender

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 10:21 a.m.

Tyrone Laffayette Garner sat stoically as five guilty verdicts, including one for first-degree murder, were read in District Court Wednesday.

The now-three-time convicted felon, who did not set foot inside the tavern the night a Las Vegas woman bartender was killed, must wait to find out if he will spend the rest of his life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.

The penalty phase of the trial in the court of District Judge Michael Douglas will begin 10 a.m. Friday, with the same six-man, six-woman jury determining what penalty Garner will receive for the murder. The judge will determine the prison sentences for the conspiracy, burglary, robbery and kidnapping convictions.

The jury deliberated fewer than eight hours Wednesday before reaching its verdicts.

Garner, 42, was the getaway driver in the execution-style murder of Shelley Lokken, who was working the graveyard shift at Doc Holliday's Tavern at 8450 Westcliff Drive on May 5, 1998, when she was handcuffed and shot twice in the head during a robbery.

Charles Randolph, 32, the accused gunman, is scheduled to go on trial later this year.

"The most important thing is that this makes the public aware of the horrible act this person committed," said Gary Lipsman, the attorney for Lokken's family, who has filed a lawsuit against Doc Holliday's, alleging it did not provide adequate safety for its employees and customers.

Members of Lokken's family sat in front of members of Garner's family as the verdicts were read. Neither family showed much emotion.

"Our hope is that the (next) jury also will find the man personally responsible for this tragedy equally as guilty," Lipsman said, speaking for Lokken's family.

Ironically Garner may never have met Lokken, who was alone in the bar that night and, according to evidence presented during the trial, did not meet her the night of the murder. He was nevertheless charged with murder because under Nevada law partners in criminal acts are held equally responsible for any death that might occur.

Garner, who took the stand in his own behalf, maintained that he was simply driving a friend to the bar to pick up his pay. Randolph had been fired from the tavern days earlier.

However, Deputy District Attorneys David Wall and Bill Kephart painted a picture of a pair of cocaine addicts conspiring to rob a bar, buying dope with the robbery proceeds and partying with prostitutes into the night.

They showed through witnesses and evidence that if Garner was just innocently taking a friend to pick up a paycheck, he should have questioned why his friend came out of the bar carrying the stolen security video cassette recorder and a bank bag full of money.