Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has announced that two men are being charged with the murder of a man well-regarded in the Iranian American community for his role as manager of prolific artist Googoosh.
Robert Dehnoushi, 54, was shot dead in a strip mall parking lot near Arden and Pacific avenues in Glendale around 8 a.m. on Aug. 15, according to the DA’s office.
The two suspects – Jerry Tolentino and Arman Martinyan – allegedly followed Dehnoushi to a restaurant where the former opened fire and killed the 54-year-old promoter outside of his vehicle.
Witnesses told KTLA that the gunman was sitting on a motorcycle and waiting for Dehnoushi, a father of two who was well-known in the community, to arrive at the strip mall for an early morning meeting.
Tolentino and Martinyan were arrested on Aug. 29 and each charged with one count of murder; Tolentino was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from a 2007 felony carjacking conviction in San Bernardino County.
“The charges also include the allegations that Tolentino personally used a handgun in the commission of the crime and that both Tolentino and Martinyan murdered Mr. Dehnoushi by means of lying-in-wait,” the district attorney’s office said in a release.
Both men are being held without bail and are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 20. If convicted as charged, Martinyan would face a maximum sentence of life in prison, while Tolentino would face a life sentence plus 15 years.