Two sentenced in Marine's fatal beating

A Bellflower killing that started as a murder case ended this week with two voluntary manslaughter convictions and 11-year prison terms. The victim was Peter Chounthala, an active-duty U.S. Marine, husband, and father. Prosecutors said he was beaten outside a bar in May 2024, left in the street, and then struck by a passing vehicle. On Thursday, May 7, 2026, the two men charged in the case — cousins Damari Kensey and Jaymel Williams — pleaded no contest in Norwalk. (kesq.com) ### What happened that night? The case goes back to May 28, 2024, just before 2 a.m. Chounthala had left a bar near Artesia Boulevard and Virginia Avenue in Bellflower when, prosecutors said, Kensey and Williams followed him outside, beat him, and left him lying in the roadway. A passing driver then hit him and did not stop. (da.lacounty.gov) ### Who were the defendants? The two men were identified by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 2025 as Damari Kensey of Long Beach and Jaymel Williams of Inglewood. They are cousins. When the case was first filed, each was charged with one count of murder and faced the possibility of life in state prison if convicted on that charge. (da.lacounty.gov) ### So why is this news now? Because the case just changed shape in court. Instead of going forward on murder charges, both defendants entered no-contest pleas to voluntary manslaughter on May 7, 2026. That resolved the prosecution without a trial and locked in the sentence — 11 years for each man. (kesq.com)o contest” mean here? Basically, it means the defendants accepted conviction and sentencing without formally admitting guilt in the same way a guilty plea would. In practical terms, for this case, it ends the criminal fight over whether they were legally responsible for Chounthala’s death. The court treated the pleas as the basis for sentencing. (kesq.com) ### Why does the vehicle matter so much? Because this was not a simple one-step homicide. Prosecutors’ theory was that the beating and the decision to leave Chounthala in traffic directly set up the fatal outcome. The unidentified driver who struck him never stopped, but the men who assaulted him were still prosecuted for causing the chain of events that led to his death. That is a big part of why the case drew attention from the start. (kesq.com) ### What happened between the arrest and the plea? Authorities announced the murder charges in June 2025, more than a year after the killing. At that point, both men had entered not guilty pleas at arraignment. The case was prosecuted out of the Norwalk branch, and by May 2026 it had been resolved through the manslaughter plea deal instead of a murder trial. (da.lacounty.gov) ### What still is not resolved? The driver who hit Chounthala was described in charging announcements and follow-up coverage as a passing motorist who did not stop. The publicly available case updates tied to the plea deal do not show that person being identified or charged. So one part of the night’s violence has now produced prison sentences, but another part still appears unanswered. (kesq.com) ### Bottom line The legal system ended this case with certainty, but not with the harshest charge prosecutors first brought. Two men will serve 11 years for Chounthala’s death, and the plea deal closes the main prosecution. But the story still carries an ugly loose end — the driver who hit the Marine after the beating remains, at least publicly, unknown. (kesq.com)