Condemned killer Johnson sentenced in another shooting

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2001 | 8:58 a.m.

Quadruple murderer Donte Johnson didn't ask for mercy Monday before he was sentenced on another charge of attempted murder. Instead, he told the judge to "hurry up."

Johnson was sentenced to death on four counts in the execution-style slayings of four young men in August 1998. On Monday Johnson, 23, appeared in court to face a charge in a prior shooting, which left Derrick Simpson a quadriplegic.

Johnson, whose case was called 90 minutes into District Judge Donald Mosley's morning calendar, asked the judge if he could speed up the proceeding.

Johnson in August pleaded the equivalent of no contest to battery with a weapon in connection with the Simpson case. It was up to Mosley to decide whether to set Johnson's sentences on the battery and the weapon enhancement simultaneously or consecutively.

After Johnson's comments Mosley said he saw no reason why the sentences should run simultaneously. He sentenced Johnson to two, four to 10-year sentences.

Simpson wasn't in the courtroom, but David Mowen, the father of one of the victims in the other case, was. He has attended all of Johnson's court appearances.

According to police, Johnson, Sikia Smith and Terrell Young went to a Las Vegas home with the intention of stealing $10,000 and drugs on Aug. 13, 1998. They left with $240, a pager, a Sony Play Station and a VCR after Johnson shot the four men -- Matthew Mowen, Peter Talamantez, Jeffrey Biddle and Tracey Gorringe -- who were between the ages of 17 and 20.

Johnson was charged with the Simpson shooting after his arrest in the quadruple murder case. Simpson, 43, has testified that Johnson shot him several times after the two men got into an argument during a drug transaction in May 1998.

Smith and Young are serving life sentences with no chance of parole. They were convicted by separate juries in 1999.