LA homeless man sentenced for 2009 mutilation killing over money for crack

Eric Zassenhaus/KPCC

With over 40,000 homeless living on its streets, Los Angeles is the homeless capital of the country. Nearly four thousand of those homeless men and women live on Skid Row.

Prosecutors say homeless man Timothy Mark Bishop has been sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for the 2009 mutilation killing of another man at a downtown Los Angeles homeless camp.

Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams says Bishop was sentenced Friday after pleading no contest to second-degree murder. Bishop also admitted that he personally used a weapon, a broken bottle, in the attack on Robert Burrus.

Evidence presented during a preliminary hearing revealed Bishop killed Burrus after the victim refused to lend him money to buy crack cocaine.

When Burrus refused, Williams says Bishop broke a malt liquor bottle over his head, then slashed his throat and cut up his eyes. Prosecutors say Bishop then took the money and used it to buy crack cocaine throughout the night.