Sentencing: Gunman gets life without parole for 2007 liquor store killing

In July of 2007, the Homicide Report wrote about the shooting death of Pulod Davlatnazarov, a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan, who was killed at his job in Hollywood.

Davlatnazarov was in the back of the Limelight Liquor Store at 1649 La Brea Ave. stocking items when he was approached by an assailant. After being led to the front of the store, Davlatnazarov and a store clerk were shot. Davlatnazarov died. The clerk survived his injuries.

The bloody scene was discovered by a Japanese tourist who came in to buy refreshments.

With the community's help, police were able to identify the shooter as Rodney Bourgeois, an 18-year-old black man. He was arrested on August 25, 2007, and charged with murder and attempted murder.

Two years later, Bourgeois was convicted of the charges, and on Tuesday he was sentenced to 57 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Times reporter Richard Winton has more on the story on L.A. Now.

A 21-year-old man convicted of shooting to death a liquor-store clerk near Hollywood Boulevard was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A security video captured Rodney Bourgeois fatally shooting Pulod Davlatnazarov in the head and wounding another employee during a 2007 robbery at Limelite liquor store on La Brea Avenue.

The gunman could be seen on the video picking up a half-gallon plastic milk bottle just before the shooting, so detectives got a DNA sample from the container, which connected it to Bourgeois. A witness also provided a positive identification of the suspect.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor sentenced Bourgeois to 57 years to life in prison for the July 19, 2007, murder and attempted murder of the two unarmed clerks at the corner store.

Keep reading: Life in prison for gunman who killed Hollywood liquor store clerk