Leon Walford is Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder

Leon Walford

Thirty-eight-year-old Leon Walford has been sentenced to forty-eight years in prison for the execution-style murder of American national Lamont Edward Lipka in May 2018.  The deadly incident took place in San Pedro when Walford and Tracey Betancourt entered Tropicana Restaurant and Bar and shot Lipka multiple times inside his place of business.  While Betancourt has since absconded, Walford, who was found guilty in July 2022, has been given a life sentence for his role in the homicide.  After hearing impassioned testimonies from Lipka’s family a few days ago, Justice Ricardo O’Neil Sandcroft handed down the prison term earlier today.  After deducting four years and nine months for time on remand, Walford will serve forty-two years and three months behind bars before he is eligible for parole.  In Betancourt’s case, despite a bench warrant being issued for her arrest, the San Pedro resident, is yet to be located by police.  Betancourt was out on fifty thousand dollars bail for murder.