Man sentenced in manslaughter case

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Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

Lester Gamble, convicted of voluntary manslaughter for killing a man to prevent him from hitting Gamble over the head with a 40-ounce beer bottle, was sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison on Tuesday by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

Gamble, 49, stood trial for murder in March for the August 2004 killing of 42-year-old Willie Mayse on the 3500 block of Rio Robles Drive near the Community College of Southern Nevada's Cheyenne Campus.

A Clark County jury determined there wasn't enough evidence to convict Gamble on the murder charge, so the jury opted to convict him for voluntary manslaughter.

Gamble took the stand during the two-day trial and admitted to killing Mayse, but said he did so in self-defense. He would not explain the nature of his confrontation with Mayse, and the prosecutors, defense attorneys and investigators couldn't explain it either.

Gamble, who has several nonviolent felony convictions dating back to the 1970s, pleaded guilty to two counts of an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.

Bonaventure sentenced Gamble to two 16-month to six-year prison terms for the possession charges and ran them consecutive to the voluntary manslaughter sentence.