DENVER—A restaurant owner has been convicted of lesser charges in the slaying of a man inside a downtown Denver eatery.
Yan “Dave” De Yang faced first-degree murder and first-degree assault charges in the October 2009 shooting death of Lloyd Running Bear inside the Chopsticks & Sushi restaurant. The Denver Post reports that a jury on Thursday convicted Yang of manslaughter and third-degree assault after defense attorneys argued that Yang shot Running Bear in self-defense.
Yang told investigators that Running Bear went to the restaurant to collect a weekly $500 payment on thousands owed by Yang and that Running Bear began choking him.
Prosecutors dispute that version and say Yang shot Running Bear in the back. Yang faces up to six years in prison when he’s sentenced on April 8.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
