LAKE FOREST : Cooperation Spares Man a Life Sentence

A Mission Viejo man was spared a life sentence Friday for his role in a drive-by shooting because he helped authorities arrest the men who carried out the fatal attack in Lake Forest nearly a year ago, officials said.

Christopher Womack, 20, was in the back seat of the vehicle on Dec. 28, 1991, when another teen-ager fired into the home of Bylan Hanna, 17, who was gunned down as he stood near his bedroom window.

Womack was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and conspiracy to shoot into a residence after agreeing to a non-jury trial before Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald in Santa Ana.

The judge sentenced Womack to seven years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 15 years to life in prison for the murder but then suspended the life sentence because Womack cooperated with authorities, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Kirkwood said. The prosecutor said she believes the sentence is appropriate.

The shooting followed a dispute between Hanna and the gunman, Matthew Lloyd Conant, also of Mission Viejo, Kirkwood said. Conant was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

Womack was the first youth arrested in connection with the shooting and helped police arrest Conant and the driver, Jason Paul Legare, another Mission Viejo resident, according to defense attorney Edward Hall, who said his client was extremely remorseful. Legare pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for driving the vehicle and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

“They were trying to scare (Hanna) and it got out of hand. It was stupid, just stupid, and it is a horrible tragedy, especially for the Hanna family,� Hall said.