Man sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for 2020 killing of Bay Area rapper Cutty Banks
A Southern California man convicted in a 2020 shooting in San Mateo that killed a Bay Area rapper has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors announced Monday.
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe's office, 37-year-old Isaiah Tone Repuena of Torrance received the maximum sentence for the killing of 30-year-old Melota Lasi of San Mateo, also known as "Cutty Banks." At Friday's sentencing hearing, eight members of Lasi's family, including his parents, siblings, grandmother, and fiancée presented victim impact statements.
Repuena was convicted on June 28 of multiple charges, including first-degree murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait, use of a firearm enhancement and felony conspiracy in connection with the Dec. 19, 2020 shooting of Lasi.
According to prosecutors, Lasi was in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank at the Hillsdale Shopping Center around 9:30 a.m. when he was fatally shot in an ambush. At the time, police said that the shooting was an isolated incident that did not involve the bank.
Prosecutors said the motive of the killing was based on an Aug. 29, 2020 road rage shooting in Southern California that killed Repuena's brother, Lewis. According to police, Lewis Repuena's girlfriend Amanda Young attempted her own investigation and erroneously believed that Lasi was responsible for the shooting.
An investigation by the California Highway Patrol found that Lasi was not involved in the killing of Lewis Repuena.
Surveillance video tied a Mercedes-Benz vehicle to the shooting of Lasi, which led to the arrests of Repuena and Young on murder charges.
Following a lengthy investigation, Repuena was located by authorities in Oklahoma in April 1, 2021, while Young was arrested in Southern California several days later.
According to the DA's office, Young's case is still pending, with the next hearing scheduled for Oct. 2. She remains in custody at the San Mateo County Jail.