HOLLYWOOD—On March 12, a 20-year-old man was sentenced to 42 years to life in state prison for the attempted murder of a Thai Town auto body shop owner in Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
Reportedly, Arvin Ghazalian and Edward Davtyan were seen vandalizing the walls of an east Hollywood auto body shop on June 25, 2008, at around 1 p.m. Both defendants left the scene in a tan 1999 Toyota Camry, and the owner of the auto shop wrote down the license plate information.
The defendants then returned to confront the shop’s employees: the owner and his brother. During the dispute, Ghazalian, who was 18-years-old at the time, drew a handgun and shot the 50-year-old body shop owner once in the chest. The owner survived the shooting.
Ghazalian, a resident of Tujunga and Armenian Power gang member, was convicted on November 20 of attempted murder and vandalism. The additional defendant on the case, 18-year-old Edward Davtyan, was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted of vandalism. Davtyan was 16-years-old at the time of the shooting.
A third defendant, 19-year-old Oganes Davtyan, was acquitted of one count each of robbery and witness intimidation.
